Chapter III…

Chapter III

Ch. 3:1-21. CHRIST’S CONVERSATION WITH NICODEMUS.--THE ARGUMENT FROM MIRACLES: ITS STRENGTH AND ITS WEAKNESS ILLUSTRATED (verse 2).--CHRIST MORE THAN A TEACHER, A LIFE-GIVER; CHRISTIANITY MORE THAN A SYSTEM OF TRUTH, A NEW LIFE.--THE CONDITION OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE, A NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE.--THE SPIRIT OF SKEPTICISM ILLUSTRATED (verse 4).--THE TRUE METHOD OF ANSWERING SKEPTICISM, NOT BY ARGUMENT, BUT BY PERSONAL ASSURED CONVICTION (verse 5).--THE TWO CONDITIONS OF ENTERING CHRIST’S KINGDOM: A NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE, AND A PUBLIC CONFESSION OF CHRIST (verse 5).--LIKE BEGETS LIKE.--THE KNOWN AND THE UNKNOWN IN THEOLOGY (verses 8, 11): THE KNOWN, WHAT TAKES PLACE ON EARTH; THE UNKNOWN, WHAT TAKES PLACE IN HEAVEN.--THE IGNORANCE OF THE WISE; HE IS NO MASTER WHO HAS NO PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE NEW BIRTH.--THE POWER OF SALVATION: A CRUCIFIED CHRIST; THE CONDITION OF SALVATION: FAITH IN HIM; THE CONDEMNATION OF SINNERS: THEIR LOVE OF DARKNESS AND REJECTION OF THE LIGHT.

Christ’s interview with Nicodemus is described only by John. It occurred immediately after the events described in the preceding chapter, and before Christ had inaugurated his missionary labors, which he did not begin till the imprisonment of John the Baptist (Mark 1:14). In studying this passage, the following considerations will prevent the student from falling into the perplexities and errors into which some learned and orthodox commentators have fallen. (1) The conversation was had at the commencement of Christ’s ministry, before he had explained, even to his own disciples, the principles of his kingdom; we cannot therefore safely assume that Nicodemus was familiar with those principles, nor can we interpret Christ’s teachings here by the later apostolic teaching, except in so far as that was developed from this as from a germ. (2) Nicodemus was a Pharisee, therefore a formalist, and pre-eminently a Jew. We may safely assume that Christ’s object was in part to correct Jewish and Pharisaic errors, and our first object must be to understand, if we can, Nicodemus’ understanding of our Lord. (3) There is no evidence that John was present at this interview; and it is not probable that we have a full verbatim report of it. The structure of the narrative indicates that only so much of the conversation is reported as was necessary to make clear Christ’s discourse founded thereon.

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus,[85] a ruler of the Jews:

[85] ch. 7:50, 51; 19:39.

=1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus.= Of Nicodemus nothing is known except what John tells us. He is not mentioned by the other Evangelists; and subsequent traditions are untrustworthy. There is a Nicodemus referred to in the Talmud; but there is nothing to identify him with this one, for the name was common among the Jews. The only incidents related of him are this conference, his protest against condemning Jesus unheard (ch. 7:50-52), and his participation with Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus (ch. 19:39). There is a spurious Gospel of Nicodemus, the author of which is, however, unknown. The designation of him here as a ruler of the Jews indicates that he was one of the Sanhedrim, and this indication is confirmed by ch. 7:50. On the character of the Pharisees, see Matt. 3:7, note. Among them there were some pure and honest souls, sincere but not courageous seekers after the truth (Mark 12:28-34; 15:43; Acts 5:34-39; 15:5; Phil. 3:5); to this class of the Pharisees Nicodemus seems to have belonged.

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for[86] no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God[87] be with him.

[86] ch. 9:16, 33; Acts 2:22.

[87] Acts 10:38.

=2. The same came to Jesus by night.= Why by night? The reason generally assumed is fear of the Jews; but this is not asserted by the Evangelist, and at this time there had not been developed any pronounced hostility on the part of the Judeans to Jesus. Nicodemus may have had a natural reluctance to commit himself to an unknown Rabbi, till he had learned more of his doctrine; he may have simply sought a quiet and personal conversation, such as he could not obtain in the busy day-time.--=Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher.= The plural is not used here for the singular number; Nicodemus expresses not merely his own personal conviction, but that of the Pharisees as a class. That they did, even much later, recognize Christ’s superhuman character and mission is clear from such passages as Matt. 12:23, 24; John 9:29-34; 11:47, and this even when they resisted him most bitterly.--=For no man can do these miracles=, etc. This is the argument from miracles put in the tersest possible form. Comp. Acts 4:16, 17. And this is all that miracles prove, namely, the commission and authority of Christ; they do not of themselves show his character. Nicodemus then regards Christ as a prophet sent from God; and John, who in ch. 1:6, etc., has drawn clearly the distinction between the prophet and the Light and Life, reports in this conversation with Nicodemus a discourse of Christ in which he emphasizes the same distinction. Nicodemus impliedly asks to know what new doctrine Christ has to teach; Christ replies in substance that the world needs not new doctrine, but new life. The key to the understanding of this conversation is the contrast between the two conceptions of religion, as a system of doctrine, and as a new and spiritual life.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except[88] a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[88] ch. 1:13; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:1; Tit. 3:5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9.

=3. Verily, verily.= With Christ these words are a common precursor of any especially weighty and solemn declaration (Matt. 5:18, note).--=Except a man be begotten anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.= On the meaning of this sentence, it is to be observed that, (1) The word (γεννάω) here rendered in our English version born, more properly signifies the act of begetting. Here therefore Christ’s language carries Nicodemus back to the very beginning of life. (2) The word (ἄνωθεν) rendered here in our English version again, is certainly mistranslated. It means either anew, i. e., from the beginning or from above. Both meanings are attached to it here by the best scholars. According to the first definition, Christ simply implies that the life must begin anew, that the character must be rebuilt from the foundation, without however implying how; according to the other idea, he indicates in the use of this word not only a new but a spiritual and divine birth. The word is used in the first sense in Luke 1:3, where it is rendered from the very first; in the second sense in James 1:17; 3:15, 17, where it is rendered from above. It is clear that Nicodemus understood it in the former sense merely, and therefore I have so rendered it here. (3) The word rendered see (ἰδεῖν) is not equivalent to enter into (εἰσελθεῖν), as Meyer interprets it. The declaration is explicit that a new spiritual life is necessary, not only to enter into but even to form any correct conception of the kingdom of God. And with this agrees the teaching of Christ elsewhere (Matt. 13:14, 15), and of Paul (1 Cor. 2:9, 14, 15). Christ thus declares to Nicodemus that he cannot even understand the spiritual teachings of the new religion without first beginning a new life. In other words, a new spiritual life is the condition precedent to a correct spiritual apprehension of Christ’s teaching. It is further to be observed that light is thrown on the meaning of this declaration by a consideration of previous Rabbinical and of later Apostolic teaching. The new birth was a familiar metaphor with the Rabbis. They held that a Gentile in becoming a Jewish proselyte, and submitting to circumcision and baptism, was born again. Old things passed away; all things became new; it was even maintained that the proselyte might marry his nearest kin without offence, because the old relationships were annulled by his new birth. Christ employs this metaphor, familiar to the Jewish Rabbi, without interpreting it, and declares that no man, Jew or Gentile, could see the kingdom of God without undergoing a change as radical. This truth, that a man may bury his old life and begin a new one, with something of the freshness and hope of youth, is also foreshadowed in the O. T. (Isa. 1:18, 19; Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 11:19, 20; 36:26), and underlies the teaching of the N. T. (Rom. 6:8; 8:3; 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Ephes. 2:1-8; Col. 3:9, 10; Titus 3:5); and the metaphor itself frequently occurs in the teaching of the apostles (Rom. 8:15; James 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 3:9).

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

=4. How can a man be born when he is old?= It seems to me clear that this question is asked in a spirit of irony. So Godet, Alford, Luther, and others. Considering that the metaphor was a common one, as Lightfoot has shown, and that the doctrine of a new life inspired from God could not have been unknown to any devout student of the O. T. (see references above), it is hardly possible to suppose that Nicodemus took Christ literally. This is however Meyer’s interpretation of the question; but it represents Nicodemus as not only “a somewhat narrow-minded man,” but also as a grossly ignorant and stupid one; and so, in truth, Meyer represents him throughout.

In the following verses (5-8), Christ answers Nicodemus’ threefold question: first, by simply reasserting his declaration that no man can see the kingdom of God unless he is born anew; second, by declaring the nature of this new birth, as the commencement of a new spiritual life, not of a new physical or fleshly life; and third, by borrowing an illustration from nature to indicate the degree of knowledge attainable by man on this subject; he can perceive the results of the operations of the spirit of God, but he cannot trace them to their source nor comprehend their laws.

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water[89] and of the Spirit,[90] he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[89] Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38.

[90] Rom. 8:2; 1 Cor. 2:12.

=5. Born of water and of Spirit.= Governing ourselves by the cardinal canon, that we are to understand Christ as Christ expected his auditor to understand him, it cannot be difficult to understand this declaration. The Jewish proselyte, as a sign that he put off his old faiths, was baptized on entering the Jewish church. John the Baptist, employing the same symbolic rite, baptized Jew as well as Gentile, as a sign of purification by repentance from past sins. The Sanhedrim were familiar with his baptism, and had sent a delegation to inquire into it (ch. 1:19, 25), and he had told them prophetically of the baptism of the Spirit which Christ would inaugurate. Nicodemus then would certainly have understood by Christ’s expression, “born of water,” a reference to this rite of baptism, and by the expression, “born of the Spirit,” a reference to a new spiritual life, which however he could have only imperfectly apprehended. The declaration then is that no man can enter the kingdom of God except by (1) a public acknowledgment and confession of sin, a public putting off of the old man and entering into the new; and (2) a real and vital change of life and character wrought by the Spirit of God in the heart of the believer. By the one act he enters into the visible and external kingdom; by the other, into the spiritual and invisible kingdom. That a public confession and consecration is essential is clearly indicated elsewhere in Christ’s teaching (Matt. 10:32, 33). Observe the difference in phraseology here and in verse 3. He cannot see the kingdom of God, except his eyes are opened by the Spirit of God; he cannot enter it, except by a public and complete abandonment of the old and a spiritual consecration to the new life (2 Cor. 5:14-16).

6 That[91] which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

[91] 1 Cor. 15:47, 49; 2 Cor. 5:17.

=6. That which is born of flesh is flesh.= The connection is this: even if a man when he is old could enter again his mother’s womb and be born, it would avail nothing; that which is born of flesh is always flesh; only that which is born of the Spirit partakes of the Spirit of God. (Comp. Rom. 8:5-9.) The declaration here, coupled with John’s explicit declaration in ch. 1:14, that the Word was made flesh, implies that the birth of Jesus was supernatural, though he narrates none of the circumstances of that birth.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

=7. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.= The original, by its construction, puts an emphasis on the word ye. And it was this which surprised Nicodemus; not that men must be born again, but that this necessity was laid on him, a child of Abraham, and an honored ruler and teacher among the Jews. Observe too that he says ye, not we. “The Lord did not, could not say this of Himself. Why? Because, in the full sense in which the flesh is incapacitated from entering the kingdom of God, He was not born of the flesh. He inherited the weakness of the flesh, but his spirit was not like that of sinful man, alien from holiness and God, and therefore on Him no sentence hath passed; when the Holy Spirit descended on Him at His baptism, the words spoken by the Father were indicative of past approval, not of renewal. His obedience was accepted as perfect, and the good pleasure of the Father rested on Him. Therefore He includes not himself in this necessity for the new birth.”--(Alford.)

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so[92] is every one that is born of the Spirit.

[92] 1 Cor. 2:11.

=8.= It is very difficult to convey the exact meaning of the original of this verse; for in the original the same word signifies wind and spirit; there is thus a verbal felicity in the metaphor, a certain play upon the word itself, which cannot be transferred from the Greek into another language. As in nature we see the operation of the summer breeze, that comes we know not whence, and goes we know not whither, so in the kingdom of grace we see the effects of the Spirit of God, in changes wrought in the individual character and in the community (Gal. 5:22), but are unable to comprehend the nature of the influence or the laws according to which it operates. Christ by this metaphor certainly indicates something more than the mere incomprehensibleness of the Spirit’s work (comp. Eccles. 11:5); he indicates also the realm in which we are to conduct our investigations, and that from which, by the nature of the case, we are excluded. We can study to advantage the results of the Spirit’s operations; but all endeavors to know how He operates, what are the occult laws of His being and work, are in vain. A humble acceptance of this teaching would eliminate many useless discussions from theology. Alford notices that the Greek word used for wind (πνεῦμα) indicates the gentle breath of summer, not the violent gale. “It is one of those sudden breezes springing up on a calm day, which has no apparent direction, but we hear it rustling in the leaves around.” Observe also in the language, where it listeth, an indication of the fact that the divine operations are free, unconstrained, and not answerable to man, nor subject to his control. Comp. Rom. 9:15, 16.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

=9, 10. Nicodemus answered, ... how can these things be?= He is sobered by the moral power and earnestness of the Lord, lays aside cavilling, and asks seriously for clearer light. For similar effect of Christ’s personal power on a skeptical nature, compare his conference with the Samaritan woman (ch. 4:11 with 25), and with Pilate (ch. 18:33-38 with 19:9-12); compare also account of Paul before Festus and Agrippa (Acts 26:31, 32). Observe that Christ does not overcome Nicodemus’ skepticism by arguing against his objections, but by the mere power of his own personal assurance of the truth.--=Thou art the teacher of Israel; and dost thou not know these things?= There is certainly in this declaration and question a touch of irony and of rebuke. The necessity of a radical change of heart and life, for Israelite as well as Gentile, is abundantly taught by the O. T. (see ver. 3, note, for references); Nicodemus, as a professional teacher of the religion of the O. T., ought not to have been surprised at Christ’s reiteration of the truth; and the less because the doctrine of a new birth and a public baptism as a symbol of it were taught by the Rabbis to the Gentiles. The language here, The teacher of Israel (ὁ διδάσκαλος) indicates that Nicodemus was a well-known teacher; perhaps that he prided himself on his pre-eminence.

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We[93] speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

[93] 1 John 1:1-3.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?

=11, 12. We speak that we do know=, etc. Christ has spoken hitherto only of that which is matter of common observation, viz., man’s need of a new and divine life, and the apparent results of it in character and conduct. He now speaks of that which is matter of personal experience with Him, the new life in the soul. He now becomes not merely an interpreter to facts that are patent, but also a witness to facts that are not. Christian teaching, to be effectual, must always be founded on personal experience of the truth taught (1 Cor. 2:12, 13).--=Earthly things ... heavenly things.= The connection of these verses with the preceding interprets the contrast which Christ here indicates. Nicodemus has impliedly asked for an exposition of Christ’s system of truth. Christ has replied by saying that no man can understand the truths that pertain to the kingdom of God unless he is born again. This necessity of a radical change in heart and life in order to appreciate divine things is an earthly fact, easily tested by an observation of men; a striking evidence of it is afforded by the question of Nicodemus in verse 4. He then immediately goes on to ask how such a change can be effected. But this, the method of God’s work in anew creating the heart, is a heavenly thing, not a matter of observation; and Christ says, If you do not believe me when I tell you a truth which you can easily verify by studying the earthly life of men, what use is there in my telling you the secrets of God’s working, the truth of which disclosure you have no means of verifying. Observe the implication that the things which are earthly, literally, upon the earth (ἐπίγεία), belong to us to study and know, and the things which are heavenly, literally, which take place in the heavens (ἐπουρανια), belong to the secret counsels and work of God, and do not belong to us to investigate (Deut. 29:29). And yet by far the largest proportion of theological conflicts have taken place respecting these hidden things, concerning God’s eternal counsels not man’s present duty.

13 And[94] no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

[94] Eph. 4:9, 10.

=13.= The key to the interpretation of this verse is to be found in its context and connection. Christ says: How shall ye believe if I tell you of things which take place in heaven; yet no one else can tell you, for no one has ascended into heaven, and no one therefore can report its secrets, except he who has descended from heaven and is in continual communion with heaven. So interpreting it, observe, (1) The declaration, No one (not merely no man) hath ascended up to heaven, means no living person; it does not militate against the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, nor imply an unconscious or even an intermediate state. It is by the connection limited to those living on the earth, for they alone could reveal the secrets of heaven if acquainted with them. (2) He that came down from heaven plainly implies the pre-existence and supernatural character and origin of Jesus Christ (comp. ch. 8:58). He contrasts himself with other men, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, as the only one who has descended to earth from heaven. (3) Which is in heaven indicates not merely, as Meyer apparently interprets it, that Christ’s proper abode and home were in heaven, but also that he maintained a vital and continuous communion therewith, dwelling in the Spirit in heaven, even while in the flesh upon earth. The Christian’s experience interprets, though it does not fully measure, this mystery of the heavenly life in the flesh (Phil. 3:20; Ephes. 2:6; Heb. 12:22).

14 And as[95] Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

[95] Numb. 21:9.

15 That whosoever[96] believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

[96] ver. 36; Heb. 7:25.

=14, 15. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.= The reference here is to the event recorded in Num. 21:4-9. The account there should be carefully studied and compared with the spiritual interpretation which Christ affords here. What species are there indicated by the description “fiery serpent” is not very clear; probably the title was given from the burning sensations produced by their bite. Travelers describe a large serpent, said to abound in the Arabian peninsula, full of fiery red spots and undulating stripes, and regarded as one of the most poisonous of the serpent kind. Excruciating heat and a burning thirst are among the symptoms produced by the bite of this serpent. The brazen serpent described in Numbers is thought to have been put upon a pole and carried throughout the camp, so as to bring it within the sight of all the people. It was carefully preserved and carried into the Holy Land, where it became an object of idolatry and was destroyed in the reformation instituted under Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4). A Roman Catholic church at Milan, Italy, however, still claims to possess the original brazen serpent.--=Must the Son of Man be lifted up.= Why must? What is the necessity? That question Christ does not answer here, nor, so far as I can see, does the N. T. anywhere. It simply represents the atoning sacrifice of Christ as a necessity, without explaining the grounds of that necessity (comp. Luke 24:26). That it is in the divine economy of grace an inexorable necessity is indicated even by the types of the O. T. (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22). The phrase “Son of Man” was a common Jewish designation for the Messiah. It would have been so understood by Nicodemus (Matt. 10:23, note).--=Be lifted up.= Not only on the cross, but by the cross unto glory. It is the cross which lifts up Christ to be the object of adoration for the whole creation (Phil. 2:9; Rev. 5:9).--=Should not perish.= These words are wanting in the best manuscripts. But the doctrine implied, that those who do not believe will perish, is clearly taught in verse 16, from which it was probably borrowed and inserted here by some early copyist.--=Eternal life.= The same Greek words are rendered everlasting life in the next verse (ζωὴν αἰώνιον). Comp. ch. 10:10. Eternal life is the life of the soul which disaster cannot impair nor death destroy--a present possession, not a future inheritance, except that it is a possession which grows in value and importance in the future.

In studying Christ’s language in these two verses observe (1) That we have Christ’s authority for the doctrine that the O. T. history is intended to indicate, by types or object-teaching, the great truths of the Gospel. This he assumes elsewhere in his ministry (Luke 22:15, 19, 20; John 6:49-51), and it is directly asserted by Paul (1 Cor. 10:11), and underlies the Epistle to the Hebrews. The history of the brazen serpent is then a parable of the Gospel; parabolically it points out the way of salvation. (2) The serpent is throughout the Bible an emblem of Satan, and its poison an emblem of the deadly and pervasive effects of sin (Gen. 3:1, 14, 15; Deut. 32:33; Psalm 58:4, 5; 140:3; Rom. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9). It is a fitting emblem--slight in its first wound, affecting the blood, the current and fountain of life, pervading the whole frame with its subtle poison, a poison for which there is no human remedy, and resulting in certain death. (3) For the human soul, poisoned by sin, the end whereof is death (James 1:15), there is lifted up One who, though he knew no sin, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh (2 Cor. 6:21), so that in him the enemy himself was, as it were, nailed to the cross (Col. 2:15). Thus, as the brazen serpent represented the fiery serpent, yet had in him not poison but healing, so Christ represented sinful flesh, but had in him no sin but redemption from the poison of sin in others. (4) The one only condition of healing to the poisoned Israelite was that he look on the brazen serpent; and this simply as an act of obedient faith. To this fact Isaiah had reference in his interpretation of the divine condition of salvation, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). So here to “believe in him” is not to believe some doctrine about the Messiah, but simply to trust in him, to look unto him (Acts 16:31; Heb. 12:2). (5) The work of heralding the Gospel is the work of Moses in the wilderness. It is a simple pointing to the Saviour, lifted up that the sinner, by looking unto him, may be saved. The work of instruction in the precepts of Christ and the principles of his kingdom comes after, not before, salvation (Matt. 28:19, 20, note).

16 For God[97] so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[97] 1 John 4:9.

=16.= Some scholars, including Olshausen and Tholuck, suppose that Christ’s discourse ends with the preceding verse, and that the remainder, to verse 21, are added by John; but the grounds for such an hypothesis seem to me quite insufficient, and the objections to it quite conclusive. The grounds are (a) That all allusion to Nicodemus is henceforth dropped. But Nicodemus is only introduced as an interrogator, because his questions elicit the instruction of Jesus; and only so much of his share in the conversation is recorded as is necessary to make Christ’s language intelligible. (b) Thenceforth past tenses are used. This might, however, well be the case, even if the events were future, the discourse being prophetic. But the events were not future, but past. The love of God, the sending his Son into the world, the opening of the door of salvation through Him--all this was already accomplished; and the passion is not described in detail as an event past. (c) The phrase “only begotten” is said to be peculiar to John. But Stier well replies that John probably obtained the phrase from Christ. The objections to the view which supposes that Christ ends the discourse at verse 15, and that the rest is John’s are, (a) That the discourse breaks off abruptly, if ended at verse 15, leaving Nicodemus in entire ignorance of the way of salvation. The same necessity which, on this hypothesis, led John to complete it, would much more have led Christ to complete it. (b) There is nothing to indicate a break at verse 15; and to suppose John guilty of adding to the discourse of our Lord his own words, without indicating that it is an addition, is to accuse him of imposture, if not forgery, and casts discredit over his whole narrative. Lange, Stier, Meyer, Alford, all hold the discourse to be our Lord’s to the end, at verse 21. The verse itself has been well called by Luther “The little gospel,” for it embodies the whole gospel in a single sentence. It declares the divine nature--love (1 John 3:9, 16); the nature of that love, a love unto self-sacrifice, the sacrifice of his Only Son; the object of that love--the whole world; the result of that love--the gift of the Messiah; the divine nature of the Messiah--God’s only begotten Son; the object of that gift--salvation; the sole condition of securing the benefits of that gift--trust in the Saviour; the proffer of that salvation--to all that believe in him; the effect of rejecting it--perishing; the effect of accepting it--everlasting life. Observe, (1) that all attempts to limit the meaning of the word world (ὁ κόσμος) to the elect, or the church, are inconsistent with the original and with other parallel passages of Scripture. See particularly 1 John 2:2, and Matt. 13:38, note; (2) the cause of the atonement is traced here not to the wrath but to the love of God, a fundamental fact often lost sight of in presenting that doctrine; (3) in the original an emphasis is put upon the word so, which is not preserved in the English version. The wonder of the Gospel is not that God loved the world, but that he loved it with such a love, a love which only the sacrifice of an only begotten Son can interpret.

17 For God[98] sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

[98] Luke 9:56.

=17. Not ... to condemn the world.= The Jews believed (see Lightfoot) that the Messiah would save Israel and judge the Gentile nations. It was a Rabbinical interpretation of Isaiah 21:12, “The morning cometh and also the night.” “It will be the morning to Israel (when the Messiah shall come), but night to the (Gentile) nations of the world.” This error Christ refutes, in this his first private preaching of the Gospel, as subsequently in his first public preaching (Luke 4:25-27); he declares that he brings salvation to the whole world. Alford notices the peculiar construction of the close of the verse, not, That he might save the world, but, That the world through him might be saved. “The free will of the world is by this strikingly set forth in connection with verses 19, 20. Not that the Lord is not the Saviour of the world, but that the peculiar cast of this passage requires the other side of the truth to be brought out.”

18 He[99] that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

[99] ch. 6:40, 47.

=18.= The connection is this: Though God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, yet he is even now judging it and condemning its unbelief, though not in the way Nicodemus had anticipated; his mere presence is a judgment. His fan is in his hand (Matt. 3:12); for he that trusts in Christ is thereby taken out from judgment, while he that rejects Christ condemns himself. The next verse states the ground and the nature of this condemnation. The Light has come into the world, and men by refusing the Light attest their love of darkness; and it is for this, not for the darkness but for their love of it, that they are condemned.--=Is not condemned.= But “is passed from death unto life” (ch. 5:24).--=Is condemned already.= The sinner is condemned, not by Christ but by his own act; he is self-condemned (Tit. 3:11). Observe, that throughout the N. T. both condemnation and salvation are represented as present realities, not as future possibilities. The last judgment decides nothing; it simply announces publicly the results of the judgment now forming. Life is the true judgment-day.--=Because he hath not believed.= Men are not condemned for their deeds but for their desires. The way of escape from the evil is provided and declined; and for this the soul is condemned. Thus it is true that the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world (ch. 1:29) and yet condemns the sinner (ch. 15:22), because the condemnation is not for the past sin, but for the present rejection of the Saviour from sin.--=In the name of the only begotten Son of God.= The name is Jesus, i. e., Saviour, and was given to him because “he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). To disbelieve in that name is to reject that salvation. “The ‘only begotten’ also here sets before us the hopelessness of such a man’s state; he has no other Saviour.”--(Alford.)

19 And this is the condemnation, that light[100] is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

[100] ch. 1:4; 9:11.

=19. And this is the condemnation.= Not merely, This is the cause of the condemnation; Christ has already stated that in the preceding verse; he here states the nature of the condemnation. He that loves darkness rather than light is given over to his own choice; this is the sentence pronounced against him (Hosea 4:1-17; Rom. 1:28; Rev. 22:11).--=Men loved darkness rather than light.= Not merely more than light; they chose darkness. For illustration of this deliberate choice of darkness see Matt. 13:14, 15; 28:12-14; John 6:66; 12:10, 11; Acts 4:16, 17; 2 Tim. 4:10. This is not always, however, a conscious and deliberate choice. See John 12:43; 2 Tim. 3:4.--=Because their deeds are evil.= Corrupting to others. This is the force of the Greek word (πονηρὰ), which is different from that rendered evil in the next verse. The corrupting power of sin lies in its secreting its evil character and purpose; hence it avoids the light; hence too it is called in Scripture the power of darkness (Luke 22:53; Col. 1:13; Rev. 16:10). Observe the secret cause of unbelief here indicated; men are willfully ignorant of the truth. It is not the intellect, but the will which is perverse. “The source of unbelief is immorality.”--(Meyer.)

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither[101] cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

[101] Job 24:13, 17; Pr. 4:18, 19.

=20. Every one that practiseth evil.= Worthless things (φαῦλα) not as in the preceding verse, things corrupting. But corrupting include worthless things, for they are not only worthless but worse than worthless. The evil here characterized is parallel to the idle words of Matt. 12:36, and it is opposed to the truth which is always fruitful in goodness and love.--=Hateth the light.= It has been supposed by some that there is in these words a covert rebuke of Nicodemus for coming to Christ secretly by night. This seems to me improbable. Christ was not accustomed to conceal his rebukes so deftly.--=Lest his deeds should be reproved.= Not necessarily by words of condemnation, but by the mere exposure of their worthlessness when brought to the light. See Luke 3:19, 20; John 8:8, 9; Compare Ephes. 5:11-13.

21 But he that doeth[102] truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought[103] in God.

[102] 1 John 1:6.

[103] John 3:21.

=21. But he that doeth the truth.= Man practises the evil (πράσσω), he does the truth (ποιέω). Compare ch. 5:29, where the same distinction is observed: “they that have done good (shall come forth) unto the resurrection of life, they that have practised evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” “He that practises (πράσσω) has nothing but his practice, which is an event, a thing of the past, a source to him only of condemnation, for he has nothing to show for it, for it is also worthless (φαῦλον); whereas he that does (ποιέω) has his deed--he has abiding fruit; his works do follow him.”--(Alford.)--=Cometh to the light.= Not merely is willing and desirous to come to the light, but is also enabled to come to it, and to appreciate and receive it (Prov. 4:18; John 7:17). Observe that throughout the N. T. truth is represented not merely as an abstract philosophy to be intellectually received, but as a life in harmony with the eternal verities of God’s law and character. Thus the incarnation is the fundamental doctrine of Christianity; as Christ is himself emphatically the Truth, so every Christian must be in a smaller measure an embodiment and incarnation of divine truth, manifesting it less by his words than by his life. So, on the other hand, Paul catalogues the vices of life, as the things which are contrary to “sound doctrine” (1 Tim. 1:10). For an exemplification of what it is to do the truth, see Psalm 15.--=That they are wrought in God.= The Christian comes to the light, not for self-glorification, but to glorify God; his desire is not to manifest the goodness in himself, but the goodness in God which has triumphed over the evil in himself (Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor. 15:10).

* * * * *

Ch. 3:22-36. FURTHER TESTIMONY FROM JOHN THE BAPTIST TO JESUS.--THE OFFICE AND THE JOY OF THE MINISTRY--CHRIST CONTRASTED WITH HIS HERALD--THE HUMAN CONFIRMATION OF DIVINE TRUTH--THE CONDITIONS OF SALVATION--THE GROUND OF CONDEMNATION--THE DANGER OF AND THE DEFENCE FROM ENVY.

22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judæa; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.[104]

[104] ch. 4:2.

=22. After these things.= Not necessarily immediately after. There is nothing to indicate how much time elapsed between the conversation with Nicodemus and the events recorded in the latter part of this chapter, except the note of time in verse 24.--=And baptized.= Christ did not baptize (ch. 4:2), and the baptism could not have been in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given (John 7:39), that is, in such measure as to be the common heritage of all disciples. The probable explanation of the statement here and in ch. 4:1, 2, is that of Chrysostom: “Both parties (John and the disciples of Jesus) alike had one reason for baptizing, and that was to lead the baptized to Christ.”

23 And John also was baptizing in Ænon, near to Salim,[105] because there was much water there: and they[106] came, and were baptized.

[105] 1 Sam. 9:4.

[106] Matt. 3:5, 6.

24 For John[107] was not yet cast into prison.

[107] Matt. 14:3.

=23, 24. In Enon near to Salim.= The site of both places is uncertain. For different hypotheses see Smith’s Bible Dictionary, article Ænon. Jerome and Eusebius both affirm that Salim existed in their day eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis near the Jordan. Van der Velde found a Mussulman oratory called Sheyk Salim about six miles south of Scythopolis, and two miles west of the Jordan. Dr. Hackett seems to think this the more probable site. This places it near the northern border of Samaria.--=Because there was much water there.= Rather many waters, i. e., many springs. Whether this spot was chosen because the water afforded conveniences for baptizing, or because the springs afforded conveniences for the pilgrims that flocked in such numbers (Matt. 3:5) to the baptism of John, is uncertain. Nothing respecting the form of baptism can be deduced from this expression.--=For John was not yet cast into prison.= For chronology of this period, see Matt. 4:12, note. The events recorded in John, chaps. 2, 3, and 4, seem to have occurred between the temptation and the first preaching of Jesus recorded in Matt. 14:3-12; Mark 6:14-29. See notes there.

25 Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying.

26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest[108] witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men[109] come to him.

[108] ch. 1:7, 15, etc.

[109] Ps. 65:2; Isa. 45:23.

=25, 26. Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and a Jew about purifying.= Not the Jews, but a Jew, an indication that the difficulty, whatever it was, started with him. Various conjectures have been proposed respecting the nature of this question. The discussion of them is unprofitable. The fact of the question is merely stated to explain how the instructions of John the Baptist came to be given.--=And they came.= Some of the disciples of John came.--=Said unto him.= What they said was evidently in the nature of a complaint. “He who also was with thee,” said they, “as one of thy disciples, has started off on a mission of his own, and is eclipsing thee.” There was possibly a little personal jealousy in this complaint. To their minds Jesus was but a disciple of the Baptist like themselves.

27 John answered and said, A man[110] can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

[110] 1 Cor. 2:12, 14; 4:7.

28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said,[111] I am not the Christ, but that I[112] am sent before him.

[111] ch. 1:20, 27.

[112] Luke 1:17.

=27, 28. A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.= Some, as Alford and Maurice, suppose that John refers to himself, saying in effect: I cannot take more than God has given me, viz., the mission of a herald; others, as Chrysostom, that he refers to Jesus. This latter seems to me clearly the true view, which has been abandoned, perhaps, from a reluctance to apply the principle involved in it to Christ, that whatever power he possessed was not independent but derived from the Father. The connection seems to me to be this: “If he whom I baptized is drawing all men unto him and is conferring on them spiritual gifts greater than I conferred, it is because his spiritual power, heaven bestowed, is greater. For, in the spiritual realm no man can usurp; no man can receive what heaven does not give.” In other words, spiritual results are always an all-sufficient justification for any spiritual work. No question of its regularity, or of the authority or the right of the worker is to be entertained.--=Ye yourselves bear me out.= He turns their words, “to whom thou barest witness,” against themselves. See for his witness Matt. 3:11, 12; John 1:20, 25-27.--=I am sent before him.= As a herald before a king (Luke 3:3-6).

29 He that hath the bride[113] is the bridegroom: but the friend[114] of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

[113] Cant. 4:8-12; Jer. 2:2; Ezek. 16:8; Hos. 2:19, 20; Matt. 22:2; 2 Cor. 11:2; Ephes. 5:25, 27; Rev. 21:9.

[114] Cant. 5:1.

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

=29, 30. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom=, etc. In the East, etiquette forbids any meetings between the bride and groom prior to marriage. Often they do not even see each other. All communications between them are carried on by one answering to our groomsman, and who is designated as the friend of the bridegroom. See Matt. 25:1-13, Prel. Note. To this custom John refers. The Church is the bride (Matt. 9:15; 25:1-13; Rev. 21:9); in a sense every individual Christian is the bride (Jer. 3:14; Isa. 54:5); Christ is the bridegroom; every one who brings Christ to his Church, or to the individual soul, is a “friend of the bridegroom.” The practical lesson for us is that we are to rejoice to be lost in the Master; to rejoice when our mission is ended for the Church or the individual, and those whom we have been teaching are able to say to us, as the Samaritans to the woman (John 4:42), “Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that it is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” “I know scarcely any words in all the Scriptures which have a deeper and diviner music in them than these, or which more express all that a Christian minister and a Christian man should wish to understand and feel; and should hope that some day he may understand and feel as he who first spoke them did.”--(Maurice.)--=Who standeth and heareth him.= Stands ready to do the bridegroom’s bidding.--=He must increase, but I must decrease.= This is with John the Baptist a subject not for resignation, but for rejoicing. His decrease in the increasing of Christ is the evidence that his work and his faith have not been in vain. For him to live is Christ; hence the more Christ and the less John, the greater his joy.

31 He that cometh from above[115] is above all: he[116] that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

[115] ch. 6:33; 8:23.

[116] 1 Cor. 15:47.

32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man[117] receiveth his testimony.

[117] ch. 1:11.

=31-32.= It has been supposed by some critics that the discourse of John the Baptist ends with the preceding verse, and that what follows is a comment by the Evangelist, (so Bengel, Olshausen, Tholuck); and by others that although it is in form the Evangelist’s report of the Baptist’s words, it has been so transformed in the reporting that it is in effect the Evangelist’s, (so Lucke and De Wette.) It must be confessed that the style is far more like that of John the Evangelist than like that of John the Baptist, so far as we have reports from other quarters, of the latter’s discourses; but there is no indication of any transition here from a report to a comment on it; and the closeness of the connection in thought forbids the idea that any such transition exists. I therefore (with Alford and Meyer) regard the whole discourse as in substance that of John the Baptist, though probably in phraseology largely that of the Evangelist.--=He that cometh from above is above all.= The Baptist emphasizes the contrast between Christ and himself. Christ, from above and above all, speaks what he knows and has seen (comp. John 3:11); John the Baptist from the earth, and possessing the earthly nature, can, like all other human teachers, only declare the truth as it has come to him in his earthly condition and as seen through the earthly atmosphere. The teachings of Christ are the highest even in the Bible, for they are free from that admixture of earthiness which belongs essentially to all mere earth-born teachers.--=No man receiveth his testimony.= A sorrowful comment (comp. ch. 1:11); but not literally true, nor is it intended to be literally taken. This is evident from the next verse.

33 He that hath received his testimony hath set[118] to his seal that God is true.

[118] 1 John 5:10.

34 For he[119] whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure[120] _unto him_.

[119] ch. 7:16.

[120] ch. 1:16; Ps. 45:7; Isa. 11:2; 59:21; Col. 1:19.

35 The Father loveth the Son,[121] and hath given all things into his hand.

[121] Matt. 28:18.

=33-35. He that hath received his testimony hath sealed that God is true.=--The seal was in ancient times, as in modern, attached to any document in confirmation and attestation of it. John the Baptist declares that whoever accepts heartily the testimony of Jesus Christ becomes himself a confirmation of its truth to others, by his own life. The meaning is interpreted by Matt. 5:14; and 2 Cor. 3:2. A pregnant and suggestive metaphor; that we put the seal to God’s testimony.--=He whom God hath sent.= The question of Christ’s relation to the Father is not in issue here. John’s disciples complain that Jesus teaches at all; John replies that the divine effects of his teaching are the attestation of his divine ministry; and that having been divinely sent, he can speak no other than divine words. Compare ch. 7:16.--=For the Father giveth not the Spirit by measure.= Alford sustains the addition of the English translators, unto him; to me it seems, as to Meyer, quite arbitrary. The meaning is not, God has distinguished Christ from all other teachers by his unmeasured gifts of grace to him; but, when God gives he does not stint, nor measure, nor parley, but gives abundantly more than we can ask or think (Ephes. 3:20); therefore, when he sends one into the world to reveal divine truth, we are not to be afraid of his teaching, and to put limitations upon and hindrances about him, lest he go astray. The truth that God has given immeasurably more into the hands of his only begotten Son than to any created being appears in the next verse, not in this. Our English version destroys the climax, and makes ver. 35 little more than a repetition of ver. 34.--=And hath given all things into his hands.= Observe that throughout the N. T. the power and authority of Christ is represented as derived from the Father, not as original or independent of him. See for example, John 5:26; Phil. 2:9; Heb. 1:9.

36 He[122] that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath[123] of God abideth on him.

[122] ver. 15, 16; Hab. 2:4.

[123] Rom. 1:18.

=36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.= An assertion, not a promise. The declaration is not that everlasting life shall be given to him in the future as a reward for his act of faith, but that faith at once inducts him into spiritual life, which is alone everlasting. Compare ver. 18 above; Rom. 6:23; 1 John 3:2. Observe what faith confers is life, i. e., the highest development and activity of the whole being (John 10:10), the reverse being death.--=He that believeth not the Son.= Two different Greek words are translated in the two clauses of this verse by the English word believe. The force of the original is impaired, if not destroyed, by this mistranslation; but it is not easy to find in English the exact equivalent for the distinction which is noted in the original. The passage may perhaps be rendered, He that hath faith in (πιστεύων εἰς) the Son hath everlasting life; but he that will not be persuaded by (ἀπειθων) the Son shall not see life. Beware of considering Believe on the Son as equivalent to either Believe correctly about the Son, or even Believe the Son. See Matt. 18:6, note.--=Shall not see life.= Not only shall not have it, but cannot even comprehend it. Spiritual life is only spiritually discerned, and faith is the first condition of spiritual discernment. See ver. 3 and note.--=The wrath of God abideth on him.= Remains, as something previously resting upon him and not removed. See Ephes. 2:3.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter IV

Ch. 4:1-26. CHRIST AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.--CHRIST A PREACHER IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON.--HIS EXAMPLE AS A CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONALIST.--THE DIVINE SPRING; THE HUMAN CISTERN.--THE ESSENTIAL AND THE INSIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS IN WORSHIP CONTRASTED.

This interview between Christ and the Samaritan woman is reported alone by John. The time is uncertain; the only definite indication is that of verse 35, and the interpretation of that is uncertain. With Ellicott and Andrews, I think December of A. D. 27 the most probable date. Matthew (4:12) explains Christ’s departure into Galilee by saying that it took place when he heard that John the Baptist was cast into prison; John here attributes it to another cause, a fear of rivalry and contention between his own and John’s disciples. The probable explanation is that Christ left Judea for the latter reason, but did not commence his public ministry till the imprisonment of the Baptist. See ch. 5, Prel. note.

1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized[124] more disciples than John,

[124] ch. 3:22, 26.

2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

3 He left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee.

4 And he must needs[125] go through Samaria.

[125] Luke 2:49.

=1-4. Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.= The conversation between Christ and Nicodemus took place at the Passover, and therefore in the spring; if that between Christ and the woman at the well occurred in December, Jesus and John the Baptist baptized together during the summer. The doctrine which Christ preached at this time was substantially the same as that of the Baptist. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2; 4:17); for he had not yet begun to explain publicly the spiritual and universal nature of his kingdom. But differences between the ministries of the two were from the first apparent; differences chiefly respecting the ceremonials of religion--purifying, baptizing, fasting (ch. 3:25, 26; Matt. 9:14). The increasing popularity of Christ threatened to awake the envy of the Baptist’s disciples, his disregard of ceremonial to awaken their suspicion; the Pharisees were alert to stimulate both. So Christ withdrew, forestalling the first danger of rupture and conflict, a lesson to all Christian workers against all unchristian rivalries and contentions about details in doctrine or ceremony. Envy is the most common instigator of denominational controversy.--=Jesus himself baptized not.= No instance is recorded of any baptism administered by Christ, or of any baptism commanded or authorized by Christ, till after his resurrection and about the time of his ascension. Baptism appears to have been adopted by his disciples from John the Baptist, and employed by them without express direction from Christ, as a symbol of repentance and a profession of a new life, and to have been subsequently adopted in a modified form by their Lord. That it was always regarded by the apostles as subordinate to the preaching of the Word is indicated by Acts 10:4, 8, with 1 Cor. 1:16, 17, from which it appears to have been a ministerial act not ordinarily performed by the apostles. On the history of baptism, see note on the baptism of Jesus by John, Vol. I, p. 72, and on Christian baptism, note on Matt. 28:19.--=And he must needs go through Samaria.= Simply because that province lay directly between Judea and Galilee, and therefore on the direct route. See map. Josephus tells us that it was the custom of the Galileans, when they came to the holy city to the festivals, to take their journey through the country of the Samaritans. The more bigoted Judeans may have sometimes avoided it by going through Perea. The history of Samaria explains, and in some measure justifies, the odium attaching to it and its inhabitants among the Jews. At the time of the secession of the ten tribes under Rehoboam (1 Kings, ch. 12), Shechem was adopted by him as the capital of the new monarchy, and made the seat of an idolatrous worship. Subsequently the city of Samaria was built by Omri, king of Israel, as capital (1 Kings 16:24), and so remained till the time of the captivity of the ten tribes under Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:6). A heathen colony was then sent in to take the places of the exiled Israelites; these colonists suffered from the devastations of wild beasts, and acting on the common assumption of that time that their own gods were not competent to take care of them in a strange land, sent for and received priests of Israel to teach them the manner of the God of Palestine. The result of this instruction was a mixed religion, partly Jewish, partly heathen (2 Kings 17:24-41). In the O. T., the phrase “the cities of Samaria,” is equivalent to the “kingdom of Israel;” it thus included all of Palestine north of Judea. That portion of Israel east of the Jordan which originally belonged to it was subsequently taken away the kings of Assyria (1 Chron. 5:26), Galilee shared the same fate (2 Kings 15:29), and Samaria was reduced to the dimensions which it possessed in the time of Christ. The character and conduct of the Samaritans increased the antagonism between them and the Jews. They were refused permission to participate in the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, at the time of the return of Judah from captivity, and became open, and, for a time, successful opponents of the rebuilding (Ezra, chaps. 4 and 5; Neh., chaps. 4 and 6). Finally, an exiled priest from Jerusalem obtained permission from the Persian king of his day to build a rival temple at Gerizim, and Samaria became the rival of Jerusalem, and the rallying-point of its foes and its outlaws (Josephus’ Antiq. 11:8, 6). To a rival temple and religion, they added a Samaritan Pentateuch, for which they claimed a greater antiquity and authority than for any copy of the O. T. possessed by the Jews. The bitter national and religious antipathy between Jew and Samaritan, consequent upon this history, is illustrated in several passages in the N. T. (ver. 9, note; 8:48; Luke 9:52-56; 10:30-37; 17:16). If anything could justify such an antipathy this would be justified, since the Samaritans were renegades both to their religion and to their nation; and Christ’s course here and elsewhere implies a condemnation of all rancor and bitterness, founded on race, national, or religious differences. Of the Samaritans, one hundred and fifty still worshipping in a little synagogue at the foot of Gerizim are all that are left, “the oldest and the smallest sect in the world.”

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave[126] to his son Joseph.

[126] Gen. 33:19; 48:22; Josh. 24:32.

=5. A city of Samaria called Sychar.= The prevalent opinion is that Sychar is a corruption of the name Shechem, that it means drunken, and that this slight change was given by the Jews to the rival capital in derision, and in possible allusion to Isaiah 28:1. If this be so, it must have become current at this time; for we can hardly believe that John would otherwise embody a mere term of derision in the Evangelical narrative. Dr. Thomson (Land and Book, ii:206, following Hug, Luthardt, and Ewald) identifies the ancient Sychar with a village about half a mile north of the supposed site of Jacob’s well, called Aschar; and as the corruption of Shechem into Sychar is a mere hypothesis, framed to account for the use of the word here, Dr. Thomson’s opinion appears to me the more probable. Shechem was two miles distant from Jacob’s well, and apparently was abundantly supplied with water.

6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

=6. Now Jacob’s spring was there.= There are two Greek words translated well in this narrative: the first means a spring or fountain, i. e., water-source; the second a well or cistern, i. e., a water-chamber. The first (πηγή) is used here, indicating that the well was fed internally by springs, not externally by rain. A well, now dry and deserted, answering to all the conditions of the narrative here, is designated by an ancient tradition as the one here described; and the case is one of the very few in Palestine in which tradition appears to be trustworthy. It is accepted even by Dr. Robinson. The purchase of the ground by Jacob is described in Gen. 33:18-20, but for the digging of the well there is no other authority than tradition, unless Gen. 49:22 is an allusion to it. Whether Jacob himself dug it, or whether his name was subsequently given to it by tradition is not known, nor does the reference here determine that question; it only designates the well by its customary name. Why he should have dug a well at all has been made matter of question, since the whole valley abounds with water. To this question Dr. Thomson replies: “The well is a very positive fact, and it must have been dug by somebody, notwithstanding this abundance of fountains, and why not by Jacob?” And he suggests that these fountains may have been already appropriated by the native population. The site of the well is in the valley between Mts. Gerizim and Ebal. For a striking description of this valley, see Van der Velde. The historical associations connected with the site were many and sacred. There the Lord first appeared to Abraham (Gen. 12:6, 7); Jacob built his first altar (Gen. 33:18-20); Joseph sought his brethren in vain (Gen. 37:12); Joshua rehearsed the law, with its blessings and cursings, and amidst the loud amens of the assembled people (Josh. 8:30-35; 24:1-25); and there Joseph was buried in the land that belonged to his father Jacob (Josh. 24:32). “At no other spot in Palestine, probably, could Jesus have more fitly uttered his remarkable doctrine, of the absolute liberty of conscience from all thrall of place or tradition, than here in Shechem, where the whole Jewish nation, in a peculiar sense, had its beginning.”--(H. W. Beecher’s Life of Christ.)--=Being wearied with his journey.= The commentators call attention to this weariness as an evidence of the reality of his humanity. It seems to me, when coupled with the prophecy of Isaiah 53:2, his apparent sinking under the weight of the cross, and his early death, while the two thieves survived (Matt. 27:32; Mark 15:44; John 19:32, 33), to be an indication that his physical frame was not robust, was not equal to the demands of the soul which it contained, and that, as a part of his human experience, he knew the peculiar sorrows which an intense and active mind feels when hindered by a weak bodily organization.--=Sat thus at the spring.= “What meaneth ‘thus’? Not upon a throne; not upon a cushion; but simply and as he was upon the ground.”--(Chrysostom.)--=And it was about the sixth hour.= That is, about twelve o’clock. There appears to be no adequate reason for the opinion that has been advanced, that John employs a different kind of reckoning from that common among the Jews, and means here 6 P. M. It is true that the evening was the common hour of resort to the wells by the women, but evidently this conference was with Christ alone, an indication that the hour was not the evening hour, for then others would probably have been present also. Ryle suggests that there is a significance in the fact that while Christ talked with Nicodemus alone, and at night, his ministry to this sinful woman was at a public resort, and at noon. “If a man will try to do good to a person like the Samaritan woman, alone and without witnesses, let him take heed that he walk in his Master’s footsteps, as to the time of his proceedings, as well as to the message he delivers.” Compare the circumstances of Christ’s Gospel message to the woman that was a sinner (Luke 7:37, etc.).

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

=7, 8. A woman of Samaria.= That is, a Samaritan woman.--=To draw water.= In the East the towns are not supplied, as with us, by means of aqueducts and water-pipes, nor are individual houses furnished each with its well. The well itself is usually excavated from the solid limestone rock, and provided with a low curb to guard against accident (Exod. 21:33). On such a curb Christ probably sat to rest. The well is ordinarily not furnished with any apparatus for drawing water. Each woman brings her own bucket, most commonly made of the skin of some animal; sometimes the well is shallow, and she descends by steps made for the purpose (Gen. 24:16), and dips the water up from the surface; if it is deep, she lets down her bucket with a rope. To assist in the work, a wheel or pulley is sometimes fixed over the well. A trough of wood or stone usually provides a means for watering cattle and sheep (Gen. 24:20; Exod. 2:16). In this case, Christ had no bucket with him, and the well being deep, so that he could not descend into it, he had no means of obtaining water (ver. 11).--=Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.= Observe how insignificant a request he makes the occasion for a deeply spiritual religious conversation; and how natural the transition from the material to the spiritual. Observe, too, that by asking a favor he opens the way to the granting of one. He thus verifies the truth that the way to gain another’s good will is not at first by doing, but by receiving a kindness.--=His disciples were gone ... to buy meat.= They apparently carried little or nothing to eat on their journeys (Matt. 16:6, 7; 12:1), but money to make the necessary purchases (John 12:6). The direction to depend on hospitality (Matt. 10:9, 10) was not for their general guidance and government.

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings[127] with the Samaritans.

[127] Acts 10:28.

=9. For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.= This is taken by some to be said by the woman; more probably it was added parenthetically by the Evangelist, to explain to his Gentile readers the woman’s surprise. For the reason of the fact, see on verse 4. It seems clear that the statement is not to be taken literally, for the disciples, who were Jews, had just gone into the Samaritan city to purchase food; but that there was abundant ground for it is evident from Rabbinical writings; e. g., “Let no Israelite eat one mouthful of anything that is a Samaritan’s; for if he eat but a little mouthful, he is as if he ate swine’s flesh.”

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift[128] of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living[129] water.

[128] Eph. 2:8.

[129] Isa. 12:3; 41:17, 18; Jer. 2:13; Zech. 13:1; 14:8; Rev. 22:17.

=10. If thou knewest the gift of God.= Not, If thou knew that water is the gift of God; this knowledge might indeed have prevented her seemingly surly refusal, but it would not have led her to ask living water of him. Nor, If thou knewest the peace and joy which are the spiritual gifts of God; these constitute the living water, and if she already knew them, in her experience, she would not need to ask to receive them. Christ is the unspeakable gift of God; if she knew the full importance of this gift, the office and work of the Messiah, and that he who was asking her for a drink of water was he, she would have asked and received from him living water. The objection that the woman would not have so comprehended the reference, and therefore that it cannot be the primary meaning (Alford, Meyer), is not tenable, because by the very language itself it is implied that the woman will not comprehend it. Christ speaks of a mystery to provoke her to further inquiry.--=Living water.= This phrase signifies primarily spring water, as opposed to water in a cistern. In Gen. 26:19; Lev. 14:5; Jer. 2:13, the word rendered “springing,” “running,” and “living,” is in the Septuagint the one here rendered “living.” It is taken by Christ as a symbol of the spiritual life which he imparts, and so as a symbol of himself, for he gives himself to the soul, and is, by his indwelling, the bread and water of life. The spiritual meaning then is not life-giving; for that a different Greek word would be employed (ζωοποιών not ζῶν). It is true that living water is life-giving, but that is not the meaning conveyed by the phrase. The meaning is water that has life in itself, as in John 6:51; “living bread” means the living Christ, in contrast with the inert manna. The significance of the metaphor here is explained by its connection. Christ compares himself with water, not because of its cleansing power, nor because of its revivifying power on the soil, but because he satisfies the soul’s thirst. A similar metaphorical use of water is to be found in the O. T. See Psalm 23:2; Isaiah 55:1; Jer. 2:13; but especially Numb. 20:8-11, an incident which it appears to me probable Christ had in mind, and one with which the woman was probably familiar, as the Samaritans accepted and employed the Pentateuch. Observe that salvation is the gift of God (Rom. 6:23), and that the only condition of receiving it is asking (Matt. 5:6; 7:7; Rev. 22:17). The water’ is always ready; it is the thirst only that is wanting (Luke 14:17-19).

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

=11, 12. Sire, Thou hast no bucket, and the well is deep.= Not spring; the water chamber, not the water source (φρέαρ not πηγή) See on ver. 6. The language is that of badinage. It is analogous to that of Nicodemus in ch. 3:4; though here, commingled with irony, there may well have been a real perplexity. The original indicates a change in the woman’s tone; she at first says, How is it that thou being a Jew? she now addresses him as “Sire” (kύριε).--=Our father Jacob=, etc. The Samaritans traced their origin back to the patriarchs, and her language here implies a claim to an ancestry superior to that of the Jews, among whom she classed Jesus. Observe an illustration of the spirit which says, What sufficed for our fathers is good enough for us, no one can be greater than they; a spirit which is fatal to all progress, in either material or spiritual things.

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever[130] drinketh of the water that I shall give[131] him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him[132] a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

[130] ch. 6:35, 58.

[131] ch. 17:2, 3; Rom. 6:23.

[132] ch. 7:38.

=13, 14. Every one drinking of this water=; accustomed to drink of it, and relying upon it. “The ‘drinking’ sets forth the recurrence, the interrupted seasons of the drinking of earthly water.”--(Alford.)--=Shall thirst again.= He appeals in this to the woman’s experience, who comes daily to re-supply the ever-recurring want.--=But whosoever has drunk=; once for all; the tense (aorist, πίῃ) indicates an historical act once performed.--=That I shall give to him.= Observe the representation throughout that the water is a gift, and a gift not received by Christ in common with humanity, but given by Christ to humanity. The Bible may be searched in vain for similar language from any prophet or apostle.--=Shall not thirst unto eternity.= That is, shall never, even unto eternity, thirst. “The whole verse is a strong argument in favor of the doctrine of the perpetuity of grace, and the consequent perseverance and the faith of believers.”--(Ryle.) Comp. ch. 10:28; Rom. 8:35-39; 2 Tim. 1:12.--=But the water which I shall give him.= This Christ does by giving his own life for the life of the world in his sacrifice for sin (ch. 6:51) and in his spiritual indwelling in the soul of the believer (ch. 14:19, 23).--=Shall become in him a fountain of water.= Not a well (not φρέαρ but πηγή). The reason he shall never thirst is that the water which Christ gives becomes itself a water source, a spring, a perpetual fountain of supply.--=Springing up unto eternal life.= Not into; the preposition indicates not something into which the fountain will be transformed, but the duration of its existence; it will forever spring up in the soul. The contrast throughout these verses is between earthly and spiritual supplies. The well (φρέαρ) is a symbol of earthly supply. This appeases but never satisfies; for it furnishes that which is external, and which is consumed in the using, so that the soul which relies on earthly cisterns for its satisfaction thirsts again. The living water, the spring (πηγή) which Christ gives, becomes a fountain in the soul, it enters into and becomes part of the character; using does not consume but increases the supply. In Christ’s promise here thirst is not equivalent to “desire,” nor is the declaration “shall never thirst,” equivalent to “shall never feel any spiritual want.” Thirst is of all bodily cravings the most painful and intolerable. Hence it is used in the Bible as a metaphor, not merely of spiritual desires, but of an urgent and intense desire, that cannot be denied (Psalm 42:2; 63:1; 143:6; Isaiah 55:1; Matt. 5:6, note). Here then the declaration is that Christ satisfies this painful longing, so that the soul shall experience it no more. Of soul-thirst we have striking illustrations in Psalms 41 and 42, and in Rom. 7:17-24; of soul-satisfaction in Christ, illustrations in Psalm 46 and in Rom. 8:31-39. Compare Christ’s promises in John 11:36; 16:32, 33. The continuance of earnest spiritual desires is not inconsistent with a rich spiritual experience. See Phil. 3:12-14.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

=15.= There is certainly a difference in tone between this request and the answer of verses 11, 13. The woman now dimly recognizes and vaguely appreciates Christ’s interpretation of her own soul-want, and replies half in jest, half in earnest. But her language “neither come hither to draw,” shows that she still gives to Christ’s words, as I think purposely misinterpreting them, a prosaic and literal meaning. Observe the implied misapprehension of the office of Christ, as one who relieves the soul of all further care and labor in the matter of religion. “There are many like her who would be glad of such a divine gift of religion as should take away all the labor and trouble of Christian life. ‘That I come not hither to draw’ is the desire of thousands who want the results of right living without the trouble of living aright.”--(H. W. Beecher.)

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

=16. Go, call thy husband=, etc. This is in appearance a break in the conversation; it is in reality the first step toward granting the woman’s request: “Give me this water;” for the first step is to convince of sin. It is only if we confess our sins that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Hence when Christ came to bring this water of life to the world he began by preaching the duty of repentance (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15). Other explanations, as that a longer conversation with the woman alone would be indecorous (Grotius), or that she was unable to understand Christ’s meaning and so he summoned her husband (Cyril, quoted in Alford), or that he wished her husband to share with her in the benefits of the conversation (Chrysostom), singularly ignore the moral meaning and continuity of the discourse. Observe Christ’s uniform way of dealing with skepticism. Its root is in sin; and he addresses not the reason, but proceeds directly to convict the conscience. It is only the sinner, conscious of sin, who ever truly finds a divine Saviour.

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband.Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

=17, 18.= The word (ἀνήρ) in Christ’s reply, rendered husband, is one of more general import and is often translated man. But it is the ordinary word used in the N. T. for husband, and I see no reason to doubt that she had lived with five successive husbands.--From these she had been separated, from some perhaps by death, from others by divorce; at all events the last of these separations was unconcealedly illegal, and her present life was one which her own conscience condemned as licentious. Observe the severity in fact and the gentleness in form of Christ’s rebuke. It shows a full knowledge of her sin; yet it is couched in the language not of condemnation but of commendation.

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive[133] that thou art a prophet.

[133] ch. 1:48, 49.

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain;[134] and ye say, that in Jerusalem[135] is the place where men ought to worship.

[134] Judges 9:7.

[135] Deut. 12:5-11; 1 Kings 9:3.

=19, 20. The woman saith unto him.= Her sentence is incomplete, either in the utterance or in the report. It is the basis of a question, implied, or perhaps expressed, but not given by John, in which place should worship be offered; which were right, Jew or Samaritan. The question was one fiercely debated between them (See on verse 5).--=I perceive that thou art a prophet.= It was a hasty conclusion; Christ might have known her character and life by other than supernatural means. Bigotry and vice are apt to be credulous and superstitious. Observe, however, the difference in tone between this declaration and the language of verse 9: “How is it that thou being a Jew.”--=Our fathers worshipped.= “The argument of ‘our fathers’ has always proved strong. Opinions, like electricity, are supposed to descend more safely along an unbroken chain. That which ‘our fathers’ or our ancestors believed, is apt to seem necessarily true; and the larger the roots of any belief, the more flourishing, it is supposed, will be its top.”--(Beecher.) Calvin’s comments are admirable though too long to quote. He suggests four errors into which men are apt to fall, from blindly following the “fathers,” all illustrated by the Samaritans: (1) When pride has created a false custom or religion, the history of the fathers is ransacked to find justification for it; (2) when men imitate the example of the evil-doers, because they are ancient, forgetful that they only are worthy to be reckoned as fathers who are true sons of God; (3) when we imitate the conduct but not the spirit of the fathers, as if one should defend human sacrifice from the example of Abraham in Gen. 22:1-10; (4) when we imitate the conduct of the fathers without considering the change of circumstances, as when the Christian church attempts to copy the ceremonials of the Jewish. “None of these are true imitators of the fathers; most of them are apes.”--=In this mount=, Gerizim. According to the Samaritan tradition it was here that Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac; and here, not on Ebal, as according to our Scripture (Josh. 8:30; Deut. 27:4), that the altar was erected by Joshua on which the words of the law were inscribed. The first view is sanctioned by some Christian scholars, prominent among whom is Dean Stanley. A temple was built on Gerizim by the Samaritans, according to Josephus, during the reign of Alexander, though the date is doubtful. The two temples intensified the bitterness of the feud between the Jews and the Samaritans, and the Samaritan temple was deserted and destroyed, B. C. 129, by John Hyrcanus (Josephus’ Antiquities 13:9, 11); but the Samaritans at Sechem (Nablus) still call Gerizim the holy mountain, and turn their faces toward it in prayer.--=Ye say.= She still treats Christ as a Jew.

Some have regarded the question presented by the woman here as a serious one; recognizing Christ as a prophet, she asks his solution of what was to her mind the great religious problem of the day; others see in it an endeavor on her part to evade the personal reference to her own sins. Both seem to me true. She endeavors to turn the conversation; recognizing the truth of Christ’s allegation, “He whom thou now hast is not thy husband,” not by confessing her sin but by acknowledging him as a prophet; but eludes the topic by opening a problem in controversial theology. In all this she is honest and in earnest. She is not the first inquirer who has deemed theoretical theology more important than practical duty. The moment her thoughts are turned to religious truth, they tend to its external aspects, and she naturally and honestly seeks a refuge from her conscience in the question, Where ought men to worship? The question, What ought I to do? is postponed. Observe that Christ suffers her to change the subject; leaves her conscience to press the sin to which he has awakened it, and teaches his followers how to deal with those who evade practical duty by doctrinal or ceremonial questions by his own response, No matter where or how the soul seeks God, if it only seeks him in spirit and in truth.

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye[136] shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

[136] Mal. 1:11; Matt. 18:20.

22 Ye worship[137] ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation[138] is of the Jews.

[137] 2 Kings 17:29.

[138] Isa. 2:3; Rom. 9:5.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit[139] and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

[139] Phil. 3:3.

24 God[140] is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

[140] 2 Cor. 3:17.

=21-24. Believe me.= This expression is nowhere else used by our Lord. It answers to his “Verily, verily, I say unto you” (Matt. 5:18, note), and to Paul’s “This is a faithful (i. e., trustworthy) saying” (1 Tim. 1:15, 4:9; Tit. 3:8). He employs it here because his declaration is partly in the nature of a prophecy, which must be accepted, if at all, upon simple trust in him.--=The hour cometh.= The word hour is here equivalent to time or season; this use of “hour” is not infrequent in John’s Gospel (ch. 2:4; 5:25, 28, 35, “season;” 8:20, etc.).--=When ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.= A prophecy which was speedily, perhaps in the lifetime of this woman, fulfilled. The ravaging of Palestine by the Roman armies, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews, has scattered the worshippers throughout the world. The Samaritan sect is indeed extinct, except the few survivors at Nablus, but the Jews continue their worship in exile in every land (Mal. 1:11).--=Ye worship ye know not what.= Their ignorance concerning the nature of the true God is indicated in their early history (2 Kings 17:24-34). The woman was solicitous concerning the place of worship; Christ directs her thought toward the person to be worshipped.--=We know what we worship.= This is the only instance in which Christ classes himself with the Jews by the pronoun we. He accepts, for the time, her estimate of him as a Jewish prophet, and declares that it is in the Jewish Scripture she is to look for a knowledge of the true God. In fact, all correct knowledge of the character, attributes, and dealings of God, possessed by the world to-day, has come through the Jewish people, by means of the Old and New Testaments (see Romans 3:1, 2; 9:4, 5). At the time of this conversation idolatry had entirely disappeared from the Jewish nation; and however inadequate, imperfect, and corrupt their worship, they at least recognized the one only true God. Notwithstanding some efforts to prove the contrary, I think it is historically demonstrable that Judaism is the source of all monotheistic religion. It is reasonably certain that the monotheism of Mohammedanism is due to Mohammed’s early instruction in the principles of Judaism.--=For the salvation is of the Jews.= The definite article in the original, unfortunately omitted in our English version, gives not only emphasis but significance to the language. The Jews know what they worship, because it is from them, as a nation, that there comes forth the divine salvation, typified by the sacrifices at Jerusalem, prophesied by Jewish Scripture, and fulfilled by the Messiah born at Bethlehem in Judea. It is therefore here equivalent not merely to the Saviour, but also includes all the preparations which preceded his personal advent.--=But the hour cometh and now is.= The last clause is added parenthetically as a suggestion that the woman is not to look to the remote future for the fulfillment of this word. Already the day has dawned, though it has not fully arrived. Her language in verse 25 indicates that a suspicion of Christ’s true nature was, perhaps by this declaration, awakened in her.--=When the true worshippers.= Not merely the sincere in opposition to consciously hypocritical worshippers (Isaiah 29:13), but also the true, inward worshippers, in opposition to those whose worship was one of external form and therefore not genuine. The word true is elsewhere used thus by John to indicate the inward and spiritual as contrasted with the external and earthly, e. g., the true light (1:9), the true bread (6:32), the true vine (15:1). Compare Luke 16:11.--=Shall worship the Father=, and therefore know what they worship; =in spirit and in truth=. Not in the Holy Spirit, though it is true that all spiritual worship is inspired and directed by his influence (Rom. 8:26; Zach. 12:10); nor with the breathing and aspirations of the heart, in contrast to worship with outward forms and symbols, for symbol is necessary in all public worship, language is but an external symbol of inward feeling; nor in holiness and righteousness of life, for that is not the meaning of spirit; nor in soundness of faith, in contrast to heretical worship, for the worship of the Jews was not heretical, Christ has just said, “We know what we worship.” In (ἐν) expresses not the instrument with which the worship shall be conducted, but the atmosphere in which it will live, an atmosphere of spiritual life and truth; worship in spirit, is in contrast with a worship in the flesh, the essence of which consists in the rite, the form, the language, the posture (Comp. Rom. 12:1; Phil. 3:3, 4; Heb. 9:9, 24); worship in truth is one which in its character harmonizes with the nature of him who is worshipped. The Lycaonians would have worshipped Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:11-13) in sincerity, but not in truth. Christ’s language condemns the spirit of ritualism, but not the employment of rites.--=For the Father is seeking such to worship him.= God is represented as in quest of such worshippers, among the many who are worshippers merely in form. Observe work is not worship; God is seeking not merely workers (Matt. 20:1) but also worshippers (Comp. Luke 10:38-42, notes).--=God is a Spirit.= This declaration is fundamental, and radically inconsistent with (1) all scientific theories which represent him as an abstract impersonal force; (2) with all metaphysical refinements which, ignoring his personality, treat him as a “power that makes for righteousness,” or as “the highest dream of which the human soul is capable;” (3) with much of the received theology, which often assumes that God is like nature, and deduces his attributes from such an imaginary likeness; (4) with all idolatry, whether the idol be in the imagination or in wood, stone, or canvas. But it justifies us in looking to man’s spiritual nature to interpret the divine nature to us. The spirituality of God is abundantly taught in the O. T., but by implication only. The abstract statement occurs only here and in 2 Cor. 3:17.--=Must worship him in spirit and in truth.= Nothing else is worship.

Observe (1) Christ answers the woman’s question not by pointing out the right place of worship, but by inculcating such a conception of the true nature of worship, that the controversy respecting Gerizim and Jerusalem shrinks into insignificance. The solution of many theological problems is to be found, not in any answer, but in a new, a higher, a more spiritual conception of religion as a spiritual life. (2) The place, and impliedly the forms and methods of worship, are matters of no importance. (3) It is important that we know what we worship, i. e., that our worship be intelligent, else it is superstitious. “Unless there be knowledge, it is not God that we worship, but a phantom or idol.”--(Calvin.) (4) That knowledge includes three elements, viz., that God is a spiritual being, with the sympathies, the flexibility, the life which belongs to spirit; that he is a Father, and is therefore to be approached with a filial, reverential, trusting affection (Matt. 5:9, note); that he is revealed to us through the Jewish Scripture and the Jewish Messiah. (5) He must be worshipped in spirit, i. e., with the heart, and in truth, i. e., in accordance with the realities of his nature as thus revealed to us; nothing else is worship. (6) Worship is essential to a religious life. God looks for it, as well as for work, as an evidence of love. The whole lesson is eloquently embodied by Henry Ward Beecher in his Life of Christ: “It expresses the renunciation of the senses in worship. It throws back upon the heart and soul of every one, whoever he may be, wherever he may be, the whole office of worship. It is the first gleam of the new morning. No longer in this nest alone, or in that, shall religion be looked for, but escaping from its shell, heard in all the earth, in notes the same in every language, flying unrestrained and free, the whole heavens shall be its sphere and the whole earth its home.”

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I[141] that speak unto thee am he.

[141] ch. 9:37.

=25, 26. The woman saith unto him.= Chrysostom well expresses her spirit: “The woman was made dizzy by his discourse, and fainted at the sublimity of what he said.” So she turns away from the present revelation, procrastinating its application with the expectation of a better opportunity when the Messiah comes.--=He will tell us all things= is not to be interpreted literally; it is the expression of a vague hope of a clearer light by and by.--=I that speak unto thee am he.= Christ did not until a much later period declare his Messiahship to his own disciples; he never declared it more clearly than to this sinful Samaritan woman. There is a reason for it, in that this declaration took from her all excuse of procrastination, and in fact made her a missionary of the Messiah. Perhaps, too, the very fact that she was an uninfluential woman and a Samaritan may have made him more ready to reveal himself; for it was certainly his general purpose not to disclose his character and mission to the public until his death (Matt. 17:9). We certainly have no right to say, with some rationalizing critics, that because we cannot fully understand his reasons it is incredible. Such a method of criticism would make havoc of all history. Most scholars suppose that the words “which is called Christ” were spoken by the woman. It seems to me more probable that they were added by John, as an explanation to his Greek readers of the Hebrew term Messiah. The word Christ is its Greek equivalent.

* * * * *

NOTE ON CHRIST AS A CONVERSATIONALIST.--Christ as a preacher has been studied; Christ as a conversationalist is quite as worthy the Christian’s study. Many of his so-called discourses were simply conversations; this is notably the case with the discourse to Nicodemus (ch. 3:1-21) and the discourse here to the woman of Samaria. Observe, I. The contrast. In the first the conversation is with a religious teacher, of honorable position, of unexceptionable life; in the second, with an abandoned woman, of licentious life; in the first, conversation with Christ is sought, in the second, repelled; in the first, Christ impresses the truth that the moralist must be born again, and without personal trust in a personal Saviour is condemned; in the second, he impresses upon the outcast the truth that for the lost there is new life in him; the first he discourages, the second encourages; to the first he proclaims duty, to the second he preaches deliverance. II. The harmony. Both are skeptical; both receive his declaration with scoffs; both invite argument; with both Christ refuses to argue; to both he simply proclaims the truth, but without strife or debate; with both he conquers cavilling by patience, not by argument. III. Christ’s method. (a.) Though wearied, he does not neglect the occasion and opportunity afforded to him. (b.) He commences the conversation by a natural request. (c.) He opens the woman’s heart by requesting from her a favor. (d.) He passes, by a natural transition, from the physical to the spiritual world, from nature to the truth which nature typifies. (e.) He presents to her not ethical, but spiritual truth; not the simple moralities, but the deep things of the Gospel. (f.) Her badinage does not affront him, nor does he reprove her for it, or indicate surprise, astonishment, or even objection. (g.) He answers it by a direct and unanswerable appeal to her conscience, by convicting her of sin. (h.) In this, while his rebuke is sharp, his language is courteous, the language of commendation clothing condemnation. (i.) Having once awakened her conscience, he does not pursue the rebuke; leaving conscience to do its work, he suffers her to change the subject. (j.) He answers her theological question not by direct response, but by asserting a principle of worship which lifts the soul above all controversies respecting forms and methods of worship. (k.) Finally, he makes his first and fullest disclosure of his Messiahship to this Samaritan woman, showing himself most a Saviour to her who most needs his salvation. IV. His example. It illustrates the enthusiasm (Rom. 10:1; Col. 4:13; 2 Tim. 4:2), the skill (Prov. 11:30), the patience (2 Tim. 2:24; 1 Thess. 2:7), and the spirituality (1 Cor. 2:13, 14) needed for the most efficient, direct, personal work of soul-saving.

* * * * *

Ch. 4:27-42. CHRIST IN SAMARIA.--THE SUSTENANCE OF CHRISTIAN LABORERS.--THE CALL FOR CHRISTIAN LABORERS.--THEIR REWARD.--THEIR SUCCESS.

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

=27-30. And marvelled that he talked with a woman.= There is no definite article in the original. The disciples knew nothing of the woman’s character except that she was a Samaritan. What amazed them was that Christ should descend to instruct a woman at all, and especially a woman of Samaria. See above on ver. 4.--=No man said, What seekest thou?= One of the many indications in the Gospel of the awe in which these life-companions of Christ stood toward him (Mark 9:32; 10:32; 16:8; Luke 8:25; John 21:12).--=Left her waterpot.= Lightfoot supposes in kindness, for the Lord to use; Calvin, with greater probability, in her haste forgetting it. In her eagerness to carry to others the news of the Messiah, she forgets her original errand, which was to draw water for her home.--=Come see a man.= Compare ch. 1:39, 46.--=Which told me all things that ever I did.= The natural exaggeration of enthusiasm. Observe the method of the spread of Christianity in its earliest years. The new convert became a missionary, propagating its faith. Compare Acts 8:4; 9:20. If ever a new convert might be excused from evangelical labors, this one might--a woman, living in an age when female preaching was more obnoxious even than now, and a woman of such ill-repute that she might well expect to be received with scorn, not with respect. But her strong convictions overbear all obstacles, secure for her a hearing, and obtain for her mission success (ver. 39). Chrysostom dwells upon her wisdom as well as her eagerness: “She said not, Come, see the Christ, but, with the same condescension with which Christ had netted her, she draws the men to Him; Come, she saith, see a man who told me all that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Observe again here the great wisdom of the woman; she neither declared the fact plainly, nor was she silent; for she desired not to bring them in by her own assertion, but to make them to share in this opinion by hearing him. * * * Nor did she say, Come, believe, but Come, see, a gentler expression than the other, and one which more attracted them.”--=Then they came out of the city.= Wisdom and tact inspired by enthusiasm produced by a personal and profound conviction of Christ’s person and power, rarely fail in evangelical labor.

31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat?

=31-33. Master, eat.= The disciples had brought food from the city, to obtain which they had originally left him (ver. 8).--=I have meat to eat that ye know not of.= The commentators generally assume that the doing of his Father’s will was this meat. This seems to me a false interpretation not required by and not really accordant with a correct reading of ver. 34 below (see note there); inconsistent with other teachings of Scripture, and practically misleading to the disciple. It is inconsistent with the metaphor; for in nature work is never a substitute for food, but physiologically exhausts it. It is inconsistent with other teachings of Scripture, which never represent work, but always divine sustaining grace, as the Christian food. It is practically misleading, for it leads the disciple to suppose that he can grow by simply doing the will of his Father, whereas he is to acquire the power to do that will by constantly receiving grace from the Father. Christ’s language here is interpreted by such passages as Matt. 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God;” Matt. 25:4, “The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” Compare John, ch. 6. That Jesus lived by this divine food is evident from his habit of prayer, and from such declarations as John 5:19, 26, 30; 14:10, 11. This meat then is the indwelling Spirit of God, conditioned upon entire consecration to God. It was this meat which fed Peter in prison (Acts 12:6), Paul and Silas at Philippi (Acts 16:25), and Paul in the shipwreck (Acts 27:23, etc.); this too which sustained Christ in the hour of Gethsemane and throughout his Passion. A faint type of it is afforded in earthly experiences by the strength which seems often to be imparted to even a feeble mother in the hour of her child’s sickness, and which carries her through vigils which, but for her love, it would be impossible for her to sustain. Her work is not her food: her love and faith are her food, and sustain her for her work. No Christian can live by or on his work; nor did Christ.--=Hath any one brought him aught to eat.= They thought, perhaps, that the woman had done so. “It is very characteristic of the first part of this Gospel to bring forward instances of unreceptivity to spiritual meaning. Compare ver. 11; ch. 2:20; 3:4; 6:42, 52.”--(Alford.)

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat[142] is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish[143] his work.

[142] ch. 6:38; Job 23:12.

[143] ch. 17:4.

=34. For me meat is in order that I may do the will of him that sent me.= The meaning is not, as our English version seems to imply, that meat and doing God’s work are synonymous. The above is a literal translation of the original; and the meaning is, The object of meat is that I may do the will of him that sent me and may finish his work. The expression is parallel to and interpreted by Paul’s in Acts 20:24, “Neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course;” or in Phil. 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ.” The object of Christ was the accomplishment of his mission; for this purpose alone had meat any value to him; for this purpose he both needed and possessed meat that his disciples, in their then state of spiritual culture, did not and could not understand; and in the work which he had accomplished, by his conversation with the woman, he had received greater satisfaction than in any food which they could have brought to him from the city.

35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.[144]

[144] Matt. 9:37.

=35.= There is some uncertainty regarding the proper interpretation of this verse. Alford, Tholuck, De Wette, and some others, suppose that Christ is quoting a proverbial expression; perhaps referring to the time which elapsed between seed-time and harvest, perhaps to some time intervening between a local feast or a religious anniversary and the harvest. Meyer, Andrews, Ellicott, and others take it as a chronological indication that it was then four months to harvest, i. e., the month of December, a fact to which perhaps some reference had been made by the disciples in the course of their walk. Chrysostom, Meyer, and others, suppose moreover that the approaching Samaritans were seen through the corn-fields, and to them Christ pointed when he said, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields.” “The approaching townspeople now showed how greatly the doing of the Father’s will was in process of accomplishment. They were coming through the corn-field, now tinged with green; thus they make the fields, which for four months would not yield the harvest, in a higher sense already white harvest fields. Jesus directs the attention of his disciples to this; and with the beautiful picture thus presented in nature he connects further appropriate instructions.”--(Meyer.) The phrase “Say not ye” seems to me clearly to indicate that Christ refers to some proverbial saying (comp. Matt. 16:2); the direction, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields,” indicates some present appearance which gave point to his declaration that they were white already, a declaration which would have no significance if the fields were literally ready for the harvest. I therefore, with Tholuck, combine the two views and suppose that Christ did refer to a proverbial expression, probably indicating the time between seed-time and harvest, and appropriate then because it was then the seed-time. The spiritual meaning is very clear. Procrastination is a fault of the church as well as of the world, of the disciple as well as of the impenitent sinner. The Christian is constantly waiting for an opportunity; he should wait on, he never need wait for the Lord. Since Christ has ascended, and the Holy Ghost has been given, the field is always white for the harvest; we never need wait for God to ripen the grain. The message, “All things are now ready,” was given by the Lord to his servants; it is only as the servant understands and believes this that he can make the guests believe it (Luke 14:17).

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit[145] unto life eternal: that both[146] he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

[145] Rom. 6:22.

[146] 1 Cor. 3:5-9.

37 And herein is that saying true, One[147] soweth, and another reapeth.

[147] Micah 6:15.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other[148] men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

[148] 1 Pet. 1:12.

=36-38. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.= The Lord’s husbandman has both wages and heaven. The earthly wages of the successful evangelist is not in his salary, nor in his fame or position, but in the affections which reward him, and the personal present consciousness of work achieved, the highest and grandest which it is ever permitted man to do. To this is added the joy inherent in bringing souls to Christ, and through Christ into eternal life, a joy which will not be consummated until the reaper enters into glory, with an “abundant entrance,” and brings his sheaves to his Lord.--=That both * * * may rejoice together.= The sowing is in tears; the reaping is with rejoicing (Ps. 126:5); but in the future life both will rejoice in the ingathering; hearts that knew not whence they received the seed will learn to thank the unknown or the unrecognized benefactor; and the Lord of the harvest will say to both, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”--=Herein is that saying true.= Undoubtedly a reference to a proverbial saying, to which Christ gives a new and spiritual significance. Primarily, Christ is the sower, who sowed in tears and reaped but little; the apostles are the reapers, who gathered in a single day more souls into the church of Christ than Jesus himself in his whole lifetime.--But secondarily the prophets were sowers and the apostles reapers, a fact illustrated by their constantly quoting of the prophets in attestation of the divine character and mission of Christ. And finally, the twofold work of sowing and reaping goes on throughout all time, the same man sometimes being both sower and reaper, sometimes sowing all his life in tears that another may reap in joy. The truth of Christ’s saying in verses 37, 38, is illustrated, but as a prophecy it is not fulfilled, by the successful mission of the apostles to Samaria, where Christ sowed at this time and they reaped subsequently (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17).

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying[149] of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

[149] ver. 29.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for[150] we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

[150] ch. 17:8; 1 John 4:14.

=39-42.= This mission of Christ to the Samaritans is not inconsistent with his directions to his apostles, when they were commissioned, not to go into any Samaritan city, for the reason of that prohibition was not his unwillingness to open the Gospel to the heathen, but the fact that his apostles did not yet comprehend its catholicity, and could not therefore successfully preach it to the heathen. That the opening of the doors to others than Jews was neither an afterthought with Christ, nor a supplemental act originating with Paul, is evident from the incident recorded here. Notice that the faith of the Samaritans rested on Christ’s words--he apparently wrought no miracles; and that they recognized in him the Saviour not of the nation but of the world. “Universalism was more akin to the Messianic faith of the Samaritans than to that of the Jews, with their definite and energetic feeling of nationality.”--(Meyer.) Notice too, the forms of Christian experience illustrated in this passage; one (ver. 39) rests on the testimony of others, the other (ver. 42) rests on a personal communion with and experience of Christ as a Messiah and Saviour.

* * * * *

Ch. 4:43-54. THE CURE OF THE CENTURION’S SON.--TWO KINDS OF FAITH; A POOR FAITH REQUIRES MIRACLES; A TRUE FAITH ACCEPTS CHRIST’S WORD SIMPLY.

43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

44 For Jesus himself testified, that[151] a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

[151] Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24.

45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilæans received him, having seen[152] all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for[153] they also went unto the feast.

[152] ch. 2:23.

[153] Deut. 16:16.

=43-45. After two days.= Spent in preaching the gospel to the Samaritans. The nature of this ministry is left to conjecture. We must presume, however, that it was of the same type as Christ’s preaching in Galilee at this time, where his theme was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17); the nature of that kingdom, and the character of the Messianic king, he probably made no attempt to explain. It was preparative; he sowed only, leaving the reaping to be done by others at a later day.--=For Jesus himself testified that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.= The rationalistic critics cite this as one of the evidences that the Fourth Gospel is not the product of one of the Twelve. Thus, “In the Synoptics Jesus is reported as quoting against the people of his own city, Nazareth, who rejected him, the proverb, ‘A prophet has no honor in his own country’ (Matt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:24). The appropriateness of the remark here is obvious. The author of the Fourth Gospel, however, shows clearly that he was neither an eye-witness nor acquainted with the subject or country when he introduces this proverb in a different place. * * * * * He (Christ) is made to go into Galilee, which is his own country, because a prophet has no honor in his country, and the Galileans are represented as receiving him, which is a contradiction of the proverb.”--(Supernatural Religion, Vol. II, 447.) I have cited this objection at length because it is a not unfair illustration of the straits to which rationalism is reduced in its efforts to discredit this Gospel. Constructive dogmatism is bad enough; destructive dogmatism is much worse. The difficulties created by evangelical critics in the interpretation of the passage are equally curious as an illustration of forced and fanciful exaggerations. The curious will find them stated in Alford and Meyer. The English reader, who simply takes the context, will assuredly find no difficulty in the passage. Christ was received in Samaria, notwithstanding he was a Jew, with whom usually the Samaritans had no dealings (ver. 9), and this though he wrought no miracles, and merely because of his words, i. e., the purity and beauty and self-evident truth of his teaching (ver. 41).--In Galilee he was received only because he was a Jew, and had wrought miracles at Jerusalem (chap. 3:2), and brought with him a metropolitan reputation. He had no honor in his own country as a prophet, until he brought it back with him from the holy city; it was honor, not indigenous but imported.

46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made[154] the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

[154] ch. 2:1, 11.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

=46, 47. Into Cana.= For site see chap. 2:1, note. The fact that he went at once to Cana, gives color to the supposition that the marriage there may have been that of John, according to an ancient tradition; at all events it probably was one of some intimate friend of Christ.--=A certain nobleman.= Probably an officer of Herod Antipas who had a palace at Tiberias. It has been conjectured that he may have been the Chuza, whose wife became attached to Jesus with other women of Galilee (Luke 8:3). That he was a Jew is probable, since the manifestation of faith in a heathen is generally especially noted by the historian or by Christ.--=Was sick at Capernaum.= About twenty miles distant.--=Was at the point of death.= Literally Was about to die.

48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs[155] and wonders, ye will not believe.

[155] 1 Cor. 1:22.

49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

=48, 49. Except ye see signs and wonders.= Rather a soliloquy applied to the entire people, than a personal rebuke of the nobleman. For there is certainly no evidence that his faith was notably small; rather the reverse. He had traveled twenty miles to apply to Christ for assistance; his request that Christ should come personally was certainly not unnatural, for he could not be expected to assume that Christ would or could heal by a word; when the word was spoken he went away undoubtingly; and he evidently made no great haste (see note on verse 51), an indication of his restful assurance on Christ’s mere word. Analogous to Christ’s utterance here is that of Mark 9:19; see note there. It is certainly a rebuke to the skepticism which to-day demands signs and wonders as a basis for faith, and to the church which continually endeavors to satisfy this desire by demonstrating the miracles as though they were the evidences of Christianity. Christ himself never, in public discourse with skeptics, based his claims on his miracles; never performed a miracle for the purpose of proving his claims to an unbeliever (Matt. 11:4, 5 is not an exception; see note there); and rebuked the demand made on him for miracles as a basis of faith in his mission.--=Come down.= One of those geographical and incidental evidences of accuracy in the historian which demonstrate his familiarity with the country. Capernaum was on the shore of the sea of Galilee; Cana was in the hill country.

50 Jesus saith unto him, Go[156] thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

[156] Matt. 8:13; Mark 7:29, 30; Luke 17:14.

51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

52 Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

53 So the father knew that it was at the same[157] hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed,[158] and his whole house.

[157] Ps. 107:20.

[158] Acts 16:34; 18:8.

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee.

=50-54. He went his way.= The course of the nobleman was not that of one deficient in faith. On the contrary, he did not wait to see signs or wonders; he believed the simple word. That he did not hasten is evident from the next verse. Christ spoke the word of healing at the seventh hour, i. e., one in the afternoon. The father could have reached home that same night; but it was not until the next day that his servants, coming to relieve his fears, met him on the road. Faith neither worries nor hurries.--=Thy son is living.= He was so sick before the father left home, that the mere announcement that he was living demonstrated that he was recovering. The case was one in which life could not last long if a change for the better did not take place.--=Himself believed.= Believed what? He had believed before, when he came to Jesus, or he would not have come; and again when he went away, or he would not have been satisfied at the mere word of Jesus. But he before simply believed about Jesus, e. g., that he was a prophet, possessing certain healing powers, the extent of which he had not measured. Now he believed on Jesus; without as yet comprehending the Saviour’s mission or character, he yet had faith in him; that kind of faith which was ready to accept him as all that he claimed, whatever that might be. To believe, used absolutely, as here, always indicates not believing a doctrine about Christ, but personal belief in and allegiance to him.

This miracle is certainly not the same with the healing of the centurion’s servant, recorded in Matt. 8:5-13, with which it has been sometimes confounded, but with which it really has little in common. One is wrought at Capernaum, the other at Cana; one at the petition of a nobleman, an officer of the court, the other at the request of a centurion; one probably for a Jew, the other certainly for a Roman; one in behalf of a son, the other in behalf of a servant; one for a petitioner who entreats Christ to come to his house, the other for one who deprecates his doing so; one affording an illustration of the largest faith in a heathen, the other of the development of faith from a small beginning in an Israelite. The resemblances are superficial; the differences are radical. Accepting the narrative as true, it is one of the many which utterly refute the rationalistic explanation of miracles offered by such writers as Schenkel. This cure could not have been due to any natural means, as the inspiration of hope, or the infusion of nervous power by personal contact, or the like, for the sick man did not see Jesus nor even know when the father saw him.

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter V

Ch. 5:1-47. HEALING OF IMPOTENT MAN AND DISCOURSE THEREON.--A PARABLE OF REDEMPTION; THE NATURE AND THE CONDITION OF SPIRITUAL CURE ILLUSTRATED.--THE CHRISTIAN LAW OF THE SABBATH ILLUSTRATED.--THE AUTHORITY OF THE SON OF GOD: HE IS WITH THE FATHER; COMES FROM THE FATHER; IS TO BE HONORED AND TRUSTED AS THE FATHER; HE RAISES THE DEAD AND JUDGES THE LIVING.--THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY; THE TESTIMONY OF JOHN; OF CHRIST’S LIFE AND WORKS; OF THE SCRIPTURE.--THE CAUSE OF UNBELIEF.

1 After this there was a feast[159] of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

[159] ch. 2:13; Lev. 23:2, etc.; Deut. 16:16.

2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first[160] after the troubling of the water stepped in, was made whole[161] of whatsoever disease he had.

[160] Prov. 8:17; Eccles. 9:10; Matt. 11:12.

[161] Ezek. 47:8, 9; Zech. 13:1.

=1-4. After this was a feast of the Jews.= There were three great feasts of the Jewish nation, the Passover in the spring, usually March; the Pentecost, fifty days after, coming therefore usually early in June; and the Tabernacles, a feast in the Fall, usually October, analogous to our Thanksgiving. To these must be added the feast of Purim, which was kept in celebration of the deliverance of Israel, in the time of Esther, from massacre (Esther 9:17-19), and the feast of Dedication, instituted subsequent to the close of the O. T. canon, to commemorate the purging of the temple and the rebuilding of the altar, after Judas Maccabeus had driven out the Syrians, B. C. 164. There is nothing in the language of John to indicate which of these various feasts is the one here intended. Some manuscripts have indeed the words, the feast of the Jews, and if this reading were correct it would unquestionably designate the Passover; but the weight of authority is against it. The question is one which has provoked a vast deal of discussion, but no general agreement. It is important only in determining the chronology of the life of Christ, and is itself so far undetermined that it cannot be of great value even for that purpose. I think it clear (a) that it could not be the feast of Dedication, which took place in the winter, when it is not probable that the sick would be lying in the porches of Bethesda; (b) nor the feast of Purim, though this has been maintained by some eminent modern scholars, as Wieseler, Godet, Olshausen, Ellicott, and Meyer; for there is no evidence that the Jews generally went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Purim, and no reason to believe that our Lord would have gone there in honor of a festival which was purely national, not directed by the O. T., observed not in connection with the temple service, but privately at home, and often, if not generally, with rioting and excess, rather than with religious services. I agree therefore with Alford and Tholuck that we cannot gather with any probability what feast it was.--=And Jesus went up to Jerusalem.= Presumptively to attend the feast.--=By the sheep-market.= Rather sheep-gate. See Neh. 3:1, 32; 12:39. The site is unknown. The traditional site, identical with the gate now known as St. Stephen’s, is pretty effectually disproved by Robinson, who shows that no wall was existing there at the time of Christ.--=A pool.= Properly a swimming-place. Pools for purposes of bathing were in use in the great cities of the old world; and recent excavations have brought to light the fact that ancient Jerusalem was in a remarkable degree supplied with water. See below.--=Called Bethesda.= The word means House of mercy. The location is entirely uncertain. Tradition places it near the modern St. Stephen’s gate; but this tradition dates back only to the 12th century.--=Having five porches.= Opening upon the bath or tank. In these the sick could lie and be partially protected from the weather.--=In these lay a great multitude of impotent, blind, halt, withered.= Four classes intended to embrace all forms of purely bodily disorder of a chronic character, but not including those possessed of evil spirits. The impotent are those simply suffering from special weakness and infirmity or from general debility; the halt are those deprived from any reason of the full and free use of their limbs; the withered are those affected by paralysis or kindred disorders.--=Waiting for the moving of the water * * * * was made whole of whatever disease he had.= Whether this explanation, i. e., the last clause of ver. 3 and the whole of ver. 4, is genuine or a later interpolation, is a question of dispute among the critics; the weight of authority is, on the whole, in favor of its omission; the weight of reason is wholly so. (a) The external evidence is, on the whole, against its retention. It is wanting in the Vatican, Cambridge, and Sinaitic manuscripts; in those manuscripts in which it occurs, the verbal variations are considerable. Tischendorf, Meyer, Alford, and Tregelles all declare against it. (b) The internal evidence is conclusive. If it had been in the original, the early copyists would not have omitted it; for in the first centuries there was no such reluctance to accept the supernatural, and no such discrimination between wonders that are and wonders that are not miracles, as would have induced its omission. On the other hand, if no explanation of the reason why the sick were gathered in the porches of Bethesda were given in the original account, it would have been very natural for copyists to have supplied the omission by inserting one. (c) The explanation offered by the doubtful passage is itself incredible. It is a marvel, but it is in no sense a miracle. The irregular and fitful appearance of help by such an angelic visitor, would have witnessed to no truth, would have had no tendency to confer faith in God or his grace. “That God would thus miraculously interpose to throw down from time to time a boon among a company of cripples, to be seized by the most forward, selfish, and eager, leaving the most helpless and miserable to be overwhelmed again and again with bitter disappointment, is a supposition not admissible.”--(Jacob Abbott’s Notes on the N. T.) (d) These considerations have led the latest and best scholars, with substantial unanimity, to omit the explanatory words of ver. 4, and latter clause of ver. 3. So Alford, Tholuck, Ebrard, Trench, Olshausen, Meyer, Tischendorf, and Tregelles. But though it is no part of the sacred record, it probably correctly states what was the popular belief among the Jews, or at least among such as resorted to this spring for cure. The real basis of this belief is indicated by recent researches. These have made it evident that the pools in and about Jerusalem were connected with each other by underground aqueducts. Dr. Robinson gives an account of his exploration of such an aqueduct connecting two pools, the Fountain of the Virgin and the Pool of Siloam. He satisfied himself that water flowed from the one to the other reservoir, and he witnessed the “troubling of the water” in the Fountain of the Virgin. “We perceived the water rapidly bubbling up from under the lower step. In less than five minutes it had risen in the basin nearly or quite a foot; and we could hear it gurgling off through the interior passage. In ten minutes more it had ceased to flow; and the water in the basin was again reduced to its former level.” His observation has been since confirmed by others. It is now difficult to see how the Fountain of the Virgin could ever have been surrounded by porches or made a resting-place for the sick; and it is quite certain that the Fountain of the Virgin cannot be asserted with any positiveness to have been the Pool of Bethesda. But these discoveries indicate the probably true explanation of the troubling of the water mentioned, not by John it will be remembered, but by some subsequent copyist, in the text. The Pool of Bethesda, probably, was connected by an underground passage with some intermittent spring, possibly possessing healing virtues, and the bubbling of the water from time to time gave rise to the legend of an angelic visitant, which certain of the Jews accepted, but which the Evangelist does not confirm, and to which there is no reference in other literature.

5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity[162] thirty and eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and[163] knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have[164] no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise,[165] take up thy bed, and walk.

9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on[166] the same day was the sabbath.

[162] Luke 8:43; 13:16.

[163] Ps. 142:3.

[164] Deut. 32:36; Ps. 72:12; 142:4; Rom. 5:6; 2 Cor. 1:9, 10.

[165] Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:11; Luke 5:24.

[166] ch. 9:14.

=5-9. Which had an infirmity.= The original implies rather a loss of power than a positive disease; probably it was a nervous disease of the paralytic type.--=Thirty and eight years.= The words “in that case,” are added by the translator, but they correctly convey the meaning, which is not that he had been at the Pool of Bethesda, but that he had been diseased that length of time.--=Wilt thou be made whole?= Why this question? Not necessarily because there was any reasonable doubt whether the man desired healing; nor because Christ required, as a conditional preliminary, the man’s assent to healing on the Sabbath; nor because he would imply blame, as though the man’s long infirmity were the result of his own weakness of will; nor, surely, because he would indicate that he was an impostor and desired to use his apparent but exaggerated infirmity to appeal to the compassion of others. All these hypotheses have been suggested. But Christ almost, if not quite, always requires on the part of the healed some act of the will precedent to and concurrent with his act of grace; the cured are never merely receptive and quiescent. I believe there is a deep religious meaning in this, for every miracle is a parable of redemption, and that our Lord would teach us that it is only as we will to be made whole that any wholeness is possible for us, even through omnipotent divine grace. In this particular case it is certainly true that the man might have traded on his infirmity and not really desired to be cured; and though Christ’s knowledge of character would have rendered the question unnecessary for his own information, it was not unnecessary to make it clear to others that he was acting in sympathy with the man, nor was it unimportant as a disclosure to the man himself that he must rouse himself from the lethargy of despair, and lay hold, by hope, on the salvation brought to him.--=I have no man.= It is the friendless who appeals peculiarly to the Friend of the sinful and the suffering.--=Rise, take up thy bed and walk.= The original (κράββατόν) implies a small, low bedstead. See for illustration Mark 2:4, note. Here, however, the term may be used in a more general way, and may imply simply a mattress which served as a couch by day and a bed by night. Observe the command to take up the bed. This apparently was not necessary; I can conceive but two reasons for it; one to emphasize the perfection of the cure, the other to provoke the controversy with the Pharisees respecting the Sabbath, and thus make it the occasion for the discourse which follows.--=Immediately.= The instantaneousness of the cure indicates its miraculous character; so does its permanence. He was cured instantly; he was cured so thoroughly that he could not only walk, but could carry his bed; and he remained cured.

I have already said that the miracles are parables of redemption. Of no one of the miracles is this more strikingly true than of the present one. The diseased man has been a long time sick. He is helpless, friendless, in despair. He waits for an imagined moving of the water, an expected divine cure that is to come without act or interposition on his part; and it never comes. Christ calls first his will into exercise: Wilt thou be made whole? then bids him do: “Rise, take up thy bed;” and in the choice and the obedience, by faith indeed, but by the faith which chooses and obeys, he is made instantly and permanently well.

10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day:[167] it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

[167] Jer. 17:21, etc.; Matt. 12:2, etc.

11 He answered them. He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13 And he that was healed wist[168] not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed[169] himself away, a multitude being in that place.

[168] ch. 14:9.

[169] Luke 4:30.

=10-13. It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.= The general Sabbath command was, Thou shalt do no work. Nehemiah, enforcing this command, forbade the carriage of commercial burdens (Neh. 13:19). From this the Pharisees, with their accustomed literalism, had deduced the doctrine that nothing must be carried on the Sabbath. To forbid this man from carrying his bed was like forbidding a modern, man to move a chair or a campstool. Either he must have left his bed at the pool, to be stolen, or he must have stayed there to watch it, or he must have been allowed to take it home with him. For the Pharisaic regulations respecting the Sabbath, see Matt. 12:2, note.--=He that made me whole said unto me.= The man knew nothing about Christ or his authority. His idea appears to have been that Christ proved his right to give the command, Take up thy bed and walk, by his miracle of healing.--=What man is it that said unto thee, Take up thy bed.= Observe the spirit of the Pharisees. Their question is not, Who healed thee? but, Who said unto thee, Take up thy bed and walk? They are blind to the miracle; they can see only the Sabbath violation, as they regard it.--=A multitude being in that place.= Christ had stopped a moment, spoken the word of healing, and passed on into the crowd. All was over in an instant, and because of the crowd Christ escaped the man’s identification. This was early in his ministry; he was not yet widely known and thronged, as later in life. Observe the indications of the nature of belief, an obedient trust, not a correct intellectual apprehension. This man had faith enough to be healed because faith to obey Christ’s directions despite Pharisaic criticism; yet he knew nothing of Christ’s person, character, or work; did not even know who he was. It is possible to have faith in even an unknown Christ.

14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin[170] no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

[170] ch. 8:11.

15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

=14-16. In the temple.= Possibly an indication that the divine grace of healing had already acted as a means of spiritual quickening.--=Sin no more, lest=, etc. A plain indication that the man’s disease, probably some form of paralysis, was an effect of sin. See note on ch. 9:1. Here, as almost everywhere, Christ makes the physical healing minister to a spiritual cure.--=And reported to the Judeans that it was Jesus which had made him whole.= They asked who bade him carry his bed; he replied that it was Jesus who healed him. They asked to condemn, he answered so as to honor Christ.--=And therefore did the Judeans come in pursuit of Jesus.= Here, as very generally throughout his gospel, John uses the word Jews (Ἰουδαῖος) to signify not generally the members of the Hebrew race, but distinctly the inhabitants of the province of Judea. I therefore render it here and elsewhere by the more distinctive word Judeans. His language indicates not a legal persecution, but a malicious pursuit. Norton translates as I have, Came in pursuit of Jesus. This is the literal rendering of the original verb (διώκω), which however generally, though not always, indicates a pursuit with an evil intent. Here the meaning is not that the general cause of the persecution which Christ suffered in Judea was his supposed Sabbath violation, but that in this particular instance they pursued him to call him to account for this particular act of Sabbath breaking. It is always the nature of the ceremonialist to care more for the ceremony than for man.--=And sought to slay him.= These words do not belong here. They have been added to explain and correspond with the expression in verse 18, Sought the more to kill him. They are omitted by Alford, Meyer, Norton, and all the best critical authorities.

* * * * *

=17-47.= In the study of the discourse which follows, beware of considering it simply verse by verse. It is not a collection of incidental aphorisms, but a connected address, the theme being the character, mission, authority, and credentials of the Son of God. The Pharisees call Christ to account for healing on the Sabbath; he cites in his defence the example of his heavenly Father. They seize upon his language, deduce from it the conclusion that he makes himself equal with God, and charge him with blasphemy. This serves as the text of the discourse which follows. He declares that he comes not to draw allegiance from, but to, the Father; that he acts under the Father’s will; that to him the Father has committed the whole work of grace on the earth; that he is even now raising the spiritually dead to life; that he is to raise the physically dead to a new life; and that he will finally complete this work entrusted to him, by declaring and executing the divine judgment. The evidence of his mission and authority is not in his own words; he is testified to by John the Baptist; by his own life and work; and by the Scriptures of the O. T. He closes by pointing out the secret cause of the Jews’ rejection of him, viz., their personal ambition. Beware, too, of imputing to the words a dogmatic meaning borrowed from later ecclesiastical controversies, which they did not bear in the minds of his hearers at the time. There is little or nothing here respecting the relations of the Son to the Father, except as the language throughout implies that the Son is subordinate to and dependent upon the Father; but the relation of the Son to the human race is clearly revealed, the relation of life-giver and judge, and is certainly not that of any man, however endowed, to his fellow-men. Nevertheless this address contains the christology of Jesus Christ, his own teaching concerning his own character and work; and it clearly implies, on the one hand, that he not only represents the Father, as an ambassador might represent a king, that he is not only clothed with divine authority, as Moses was clothed, in the administration of the theocracy, with the authority of God, but that he is a partaker of the divine nature; nor less clearly, on the other hand, does it imply that his authority is derived from the Father, that his power is conferred on him by the Father, that he executes in all things the will of the Father, that he is to be conceived of not as distinct from, but as one with the Father, and that his object is in all things to be a way unto the Father. Against every form of tri-theism, against all substitution of the Son in the place of the Father, this discourse is a solemn and earnest admonition, no less than against all belittling of either his character to that of man or angel, or his mission to that of mere messenger or teacher.

17 But Jesus answered them, My[171] Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

[171] chaps. 9:4, 14:10.

=17. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.= The argument is very brief; it is based on the premises that we are to be followers of God as dear children (Ephes. 5:1), that the Father’s work is a pattern for our own working. It gives color to the opinion that the days of creation are long eons or periods; that the seventh day, which God blessed and on which he rested, is the present period in which the mere physical work of creation has given place to the higher work of redemption; thus the Sabbath of God becomes both interpreted and an interpreter to us of what our Sabbath should be. The divine work does not cease; the grass grows, the buds swell, the flowers bloom, the fruits ripen, the rains fall, the winds blow,--but all this is the work of love; over all this work God’s tender mercies brood (Psalm 145:9). The lesson of nature interpreted here by Christ is that the work of love is never a violation of the true Sabbath law. This verse, with Matt. 12:8 and Mark 2:27, give the three canons for the Christian observance of the Sabbath. (1) The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. It is then a Christian day, belongs to the Christian dispensation, is under the Lordship of Christ and in his kingdom, and is to be kept in that spirit of joyous freedom with which Christ makes free. (2) The Sabbath is made for man. It is therefore man’s day; belongs to all men, Gentile and Jew, poor and rich; a day to be used for man; so that whatever work is necessary to the real abiding welfare of the human race, is not foreign to this day. (3) My Father worketh hitherto. The Father’s work is the example and the law for his children; the work of love, the work for others, the work that has tender mercy for its inspiration and its overseer, is Sabbath work. It is to be our rest-day as it is our heavenly Father’s rest-day, and only so; a prophecy of that eternal rest which will be one of glorious activity: a rest from care, from worldliness, from the common temptations of life, but not a day of mere dull cessation of labor.

18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill[172] him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making[173] himself equal with God.

[172] ch. 7:19.

[173] ch. 10:30, 33; Zech. 13:7; Phil. 2:6.

=18. Because he had not only broken the Sabbath.= Literally relaxed (λύω) the Sabbath. See note on Matt. 5:19 for meaning of the word. The Pharisees then, as the literalists now, believe that the sanctity of the Sabbath could only be preserved by putting the soul under bonds to a literal compliance with specific regulations. Christ broke these bonds asunder, gave the soul liberty, and preserved the Sabbath by inspiring the souls of his disciples with allegiance to himself, love for humanity, and sympathy with the redeeming work of the Father. He did relax what they supposed to be essential to the preservation of the day, but what was really destroying it. To keep this poor man on his bed, or watching it to prevent it from being stolen, would have destroyed for him the rest of the day, in order that he might comply with the letter of the Pharisaic regulations. So he who rides in a horse-car rather than remain away from church, or travels late Saturday night or early Sunday morning rather than destroy his Sabbath by spending it with strangers, seems to the Sabbatarian of to-day to be relaxing the Sabbath, while he may be in truth preserving it.--=But said also that God was his own Father.= (πατέρα ἴδιον.) Norton renders the sense accurately though freely, Had spoken of God as particularly his Father. The meaning of the original will be indicated to the English reader by Rom. 8:32, “Spared not his own Son;” 1 Cor. 6:18, “Sinneth against his own body;” 1 Cor. 7:2, “Have her own husband.” It is clear that the Jews either did understand Christ by his language to claim peculiar relations with God, or pretended so to do. In his mere reference to God as Father there was no such claim, for he bids us all call him our Father (Matt. 6:6, 7). True, in the language “my Father,” most commentators see a ground for the interpretation put upon his language by the Judeans:--thus Meyer: “They rightly interpreted ‘my Father’ as signifying peculiar and personal fatherhood;” Bengel: “The Only-begotten alone can say, ‘my Father’;” similarly Alford, Tholuck, and others. There is perhaps some ground for this view. Yet I can hardly think that Christ’s mere designation of God as “my Father” implies more than Paul’s “Abba Father” (Rom. 8:15), which Luther renders “dear Father,” or the frequent designation of God as my God by the patriarchs, and especially by David. See for example, Exod. 15:2; 1 Chron. 28:20; 2 Chron. 18:13; Ps. 22:1, 10; 38:21; 71:12; 2 Cor. 12:21; Phil. 4:19. And in Psalm 89:26; Jer. 3:4, man is directed by God to apply this very phrase “my Father” in his address to God. I believe then that the statement that Jesus said that God was in a peculiar sense his Father, and the deduction that he thus made himself equal to God, are the malicious wresting of his words by the Judeans, for the very purpose of finding an occasion of offence. They manifested the same spirit in John 10:31, etc., though there they have better ground for the interpretation which they put upon his words. In the discourse which follows, Christ does not hold them to their original charge respecting the Sabbath. He follows them into the new ground which they have entered on, and expounds his true nature and mission.--=Making himself equal with God.= “On the same level with God” (Meyer); “On an equality with God” (Norton); “Of the same nature and condition” (Robinson). The language of Jesus, his claim of the right to work because the Father works, and his language My Father, the Judeans regard as embodying an assumption that he is of the divine nature and possesses the divine prerogatives. That they so interpreted his language does not prove that it is to be so interpreted. The Pharisees are not authorized interpreters of the words of Christ. His claim we must interpret for ourselves from the discourse which follows. How far does he correct and how far confirm their interpretation? It seems to me clear that at the very outset he materially modifies it, in his declaration of his obedience to and dependence upon and work under the Father (ver. 19), while he confirms the substantial idea that he possesses the same nature as the Father, is, so to speak, of kin to Him, by his declaration that he does what the Father does (ver. 19), shares in all the counsels of the Father (ver. 20), gives life to the dead as the Father (ver. 21), judges all men for the Father (ver. 22), is to be honored as the representative of the Father (ver. 23), is the door through which all must enter into eternal life in the Father (ver. 24), and is the final Resurrection and Judge for the Father (ver. 25-29); yet at the close he again emphasizes the truth that in all this he is not a second or even subordinate God, but the One through whom the Father does all (ver. 30), the one mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5).

19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,[174] The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

[174] verse 30.

20 For[175] the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

[175] chaps. 3:35; 17:26; Matt. 3:17.

=19, 20. Verily, verily.= A formula used by Christ in cases of important and emphatic affirmation.--=The Son can do nothing of himself=, i. e., of his own will or authority. “Of myself (ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ), i. e., of one’s own will or accord, without authority or command from another.”--(Rob. 24, art. ἀπό.) This declaration cannot be limited, as by Calvin, to the power of Christ in his human nature, without, adding to the verse what is not in it, nor in its necessary connection; nor can we read it, as Chrysostom does, that Christ can do nothing contrary to his Father’s will, because of the perfect union between them, for this is clearly not the meaning of the original. Christ says not, I can do nothing contrary to my Father, but, I can do nothing of myself by my own independent and original power. The meaning of the original is transparent, though the truth is transcendent. This is that the power of Christ is not an original but a derived power; that it comes from the Father and is a power only to do those things which carry out the Father’s will. As the Christian can do nothing without Christ (ch. 15:5), yet can do all things through Christ strengthening him (Phil. 4:13), so Christ can do nothing without the Father, but does all things by virtue of a divine power imparted to him by the Father, and as a manifestation of the Father. This is a partial answer to the charge that Christ makes himself equal to the Father. He show’s that so far from doing anything calculated to draw away allegiance from the Father, he draws allegiance to the Father, since in all that he does he acts out only the Father’s will. He is divine because of the divinity with which he has, so to speak, been clothed by the Father’s love.--=But what he seeth the Father do.= “A familiar description, borrowed from the attention which children give to their father--of the inner and immediate intention which the Son perpetually has of the Father’s will, in the perfect consciousness of fellowship of life with Him.”--(Meyer.)--=Whatsoever things he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.= In like manner (ὁμοίως), that is, with like power and authority. This surely could be said of no man, no angel. It indicates not only a superhuman but also a super-angelic character. Thus this verse puts in a very compact form the paradox of Christ’s character--a paradox not to be explained away by either modifications of the first clause or denials of the second. The first clause asserts that Christ’s power comes from the Father, and thus, in a sense, is not equal to that of the Father, which is uncreated and underived. And with this declaration agree many other passages of Scripture. See for example, ch. 7:17, 18; 8:42; 14:10; Phil. 2:9; Heb. 1:9; 3:2. The second clause asserts that this power, conferred upon the Son, is that of the Father, who has put all things into the hands of the Son that he may be Lord of all. Acts 10:36; James 5:9; Col. 1:16, 17; 3:11. It is noticeable that John, who of all Evangelists makes most clear the divine nature of Christ, as well as his divine mission, is the one who more clearly than any other of the evangelists asserts his dependence on the Father.--=For the Father loveth the Son=, etc. This is stated as the reason why the Son is able to do all things that the Father doeth. His power is derived from the Father through the Father’s love for him. Comp. Heb. 1:9.--=And showeth him all things.= “He who loves hides nothing.”--(Bengel.)--=He will show him greater works than these.= Greater miracles than the healing of the impotent man. Far greater works were done later in Christ’s ministry in Jerusalem and vicinity, the consummation being the raising of Lazarus from the dead.--=That ye may marvel.= Here the verb marvel (θαυμάζω) is used with the idea of praise as well as wonder. The object of the wonderful works of God is not merely to awaken the wonder of mankind, but, through the wonder, the reverence and so the allegiance of mankind to the Father through Christ his Son.

21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even[176] so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

[176] ch. 11:25; 17:2; Luke 8:54.

22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed[177] all judgment unto the Son;

[177] Matt. 11:27; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10.

23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

=21-23. For as the Father raiseth up the dead and maketh them to live, even so the Son, whom he will, makes to live.= Observe, (1) that the verbs in this sentence are in the present tense; Christ is therefore speaking of a present resurrection, one now taking place. (2) That this resurrection is one recognized among men, not one taking place in the invisible world (ver. 23). (3) That as the result of this resurrection, the raised pass from death unto life (ver. 24). (4) That a universal resurrection is not indicated, but only of those whom he wills to raise (ver. 21). It is then not of a future resurrection of all men at the last day, nor of a present resurrection of the literally dead taking place as they die, that Christ here speaks, but of a spiritual resurrection, taking place on the earth, confined to those whom the Saviour calls and who hear and answer his call, and so manifest to men that it is recognized as a sign of the Saviour’s power. As Christ has power on earth to forgive sins (Mark 2:10), so also he has power to raise the dead in trespasses and sins. Thus he is now, as he will be in another sense in the last day, the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). This theme of a spiritual resurrection and life-giving occupies verses 21-27; then by a natural transition Christ passes to the future resurrection of the physical dead. Be not surprised, he says in substance, at my declarations respecting the spiritual resurrection; for the final resurrection shall also be at my voice. Be not surprised at my claim to be now a judge, for the great day of judgment the Father has also committed into my hands.--=Whom he will.= This phrase does not indicate “that he specially confers this grace on none but certain men, that is, on the elect” (Calvin); nor can we say that “He will not quicken others because they believe not” (Meyer), for though this is true, it is neither asserted, nor even hinted at here; nor is the meaning merely that “in every instance where his will is to vivify, the result invariably follows” (Alford). Clearly the indication of the passage is that spiritual life has its source, not in the will of the sinner but in that of the Saviour (comp. ch. 1:13; Rom. 9:16); but the reason why the divine will apparently chooses some and not others, whether for reasons in human character and choice, or for inscrutable reasons, not explained nor indeed explicable, is not here hinted at.--=For the Father judgeth no man.= The whole work of judgment, the whole moral government of the world, the whole course of divine Providence, as regards the nation, the church, and the individual, is entrusted to the Son. See Psalm 2; Rev. 1:5.--=That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.= There is some reasonable ground for a difference of opinion as to the proper interpretation of the preceding verses, which treat of the relations of the Father to the Son; and Christian critics are not wholly agreed respecting their meaning. But there can be no room for difference of opinion as to the meaning of this verse, which gives the practical outcome of those which precede. Whatever opinion the theologian may entertain concerning the mystery of Christ’s nature, the Christian can hardly doubt the plain teaching of Scripture that the highest allegiance that the soul can pay to its God, the highest love it can offer, the highest reverence it can experience, are all due to the Son. Even as signifies the manner and the degree. So in heaven the highest praises are paid to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 5:12; 7:10).--=He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.= Not because the failure to honor an ambassador is a failure to honor the king whom he represents, but because the honor paid to God belongs to his character, and of that character the Son is the manifestation; so that the soul that does not honor the Son, who is the brightness of the Father’s image, and who doeth all things which the Father does, and as the Father does them, does not really honor the Father. In truth, he who does not recognize in Christ the Son of the Father, the true image of the divine glory, has either no true conception of the Son or none of the Father; for the only way to the Father is the Son. And in fact, those forms of theological doctrine which have tended to belittle Christ have also tended, in the history of the church, to dwarf worship.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He[178] that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed[179] from death unto life.

[178] ch. 6:40, 47.

[179] 1 John 3:14.

=24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth me and hath faith on him that sent me, hath eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of the death into the life.= The meaning of this declaration is not obscure, though it has been sometimes obscured by unbelief. To hear the word of Christ is to hear it with the spiritual ear, not merely with the physical ear. Thus those may be included who have never heard of the historic Christ; for as he is the Light of the world, who lighteth every man who cometh into the world (ch. 1:9, note), so those who, without the literal hearing of his words, do hear and attend to the message which he speaks to the soul, in the inner experience, are to be included among those who hear his words. To have faith on him that sent me, is not merely to believe his written word, nor to believe that he has sent Christ into the world, nor to believe any specific dogma respecting Christ, however important, but to have faith in an unseen divinity, in contrast to faith in either one’s self or in any human helper. It is to direct faith toward this unseen God that Christ came into the world; and to have faith in Christ is to have faith in the Father who sent him, in order that he might bring all unto the Father, and present all to him (ch. 17:8, 21, 24). Cometh not into judgment is mistranslated in our English version, Shall not come into condemnation. The verb is not future, and the noun is judgment, not condemnation. “There can be no good reason why the word (κρίσις, krisis) should be rendered judgment in the 22d verse, and condemnation in the 24th. But from a fear, I suppose, lest the one should seem to contradict the other--lest the Son should be thought not to execute the judgment that had been committed to him--they (the translators) were unfaithful to the letter, perhaps even more unfaithful to the spirit, of the passage.”--(Maurice.) The promise is one fulfilled in this life, a promise of present not merely future deliverance, and of a deliverance not merely from condemnation, but from judgment. If the Christian comes into judgment, he would also inevitably come into condemnation (1 John 1:8, 10). The meaning of this verse then is, that when the soul has accepted Christ as its Master, hearing his words, and following him, for spiritual hearing involves following (ch. 10:3, 4) so as to live by faith in God (Gal. 2:20), he is no longer subject to divine judgment; there is no more condemnation to them who are thus in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). With this is involved the further truth that there will be no true judgment for them in the last day. “The reckoning which ends with ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ is not judgment; the reward is of free grace. In this sense the believers in Christ will not be judged according to their works; they are justified before God by faith, and by God.”--(Alford.) Finally, the last clause of the verse, but hath passed out of death into life, indicates the true condition of both the impenitent and the believer; the one is already in death, from which he can only be delivered by the Life-giver; the other has already entered into eternal life. This is not a future reward reserved for him; it begins here and now, though it is to be consummated hereafter. The life is spiritual life, the death spiritual death. Of these great realities physical life and death are but tropes and symbols.

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead[180] shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live.

[180] verse 28; Ephes. 2:1.

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life[181] in himself;

[181] 1 Cor. 15:45.

27 And hath given him authority[182] to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

[182] verse 22.

=25-27. The hour is coming, and now is, when=, etc. The resurrection here spoken of is then one already taking place. In order to meet this evident requirement of the verse, those commentators who regard Christ as throughout this passage speaking of the final resurrection suppose here a reference to the cases of resurrection which took place in connection with his ministry. But none such had as yet taken place; moreover, this construction requires us to suppose that Christ used the word life in one sense in the preceding verse and in another sense here, without giving any indication of the change of meaning. His reference then I believe to be here, as throughout this passage up to verse 28, to spiritual death and spiritual resurrection.--=For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given to the Son to have life in himself.= Norton renders this somewhat enigmatical verse liberally, thus: “For as the Father is the fountain of life, so hath he given to the Son to be the fountain of life.” This must be regarded rather as a paraphrase than as a translation; but it embodies well the meaning of the verse, as indicated by the context. No man is a fountain of life to any other man. He may be a conduit, but not a source. It is given to Christ to be a source of life himself to others. We live only as we draw continuously our life from God; to the Son the Father has given life in such a sense that he becomes himself the life of the world, and thus the life-giver to the dead.--=Because he is a Son of man.= Not, as in the English version, the Son of man. The omission of the article is significant, for without the article the phrase son of man means simply one of the human race; with the article it always means the Messiah. Here then the meaning is that Christ is to be the judge of all the earth, because he has taken on himself human nature. Why is this any reason that he should be the judge of the world? The answer is, I think, indicated by Heb. 5:15: “We have not an high-priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.” Our judge is chosen, because he knows our frame, he understands sympathetically our temptations, is able to make allowances for all infirmities and weaknesses of humanity, and for all trials of life, and able, also, to measure at their true worth the false excuses with which we endeavor to excuse ourselves to ourselves and to our fellows. Other explanations, for which in detail see Meyer, as that judgment is a necessary part of redemption, or that it belongs to Christ as the Messiah, or that it is given to him as a reward for accepting the humility of human nature, seem to me to be inadmissible. Judgment is not a part of redemption; it is in no true sense redemptive; the phrase a son of man never means the Messiah; and it would be no reward to a tender and loving nature to exercise judgment, except as it afforded an opportunity for the exercise of mercy in judgment.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they[183] that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.[184]

[183] Dan. 12:2.

[184] Matt. 25:46.

=28, 29. Marvel not at this.= Not only because the greater wonder absorbs the less (Meyer), but also because there is nothing strange in the declaration that he who is to be the final judge of all flesh should exercise judgment now on men, and he who is to be the final resurrection and the life should be the resurrection and the life in the spiritual realm now.--=For the hour is coming.= He does not add and now is, for now he is speaking not of a present resurrection, but of one to take place only in the future.--=All that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.= A voice like the sound of a trumpet (Rev. 1:10), and like the sound of many waters (Rev. 1:15), that is, like the roar of the ocean for fullness and power. Comp. 1 Thess. 4:16. The entire language is highly figurative. If literally interpreted it would seem to imply a bodily resurrection, and it is apparently so understood by some of the commentators, e. g., Alford and Olshausen; but it is evident that it cannot be literally interpreted. Thus the dead do not in a literal sense hear his voice; their arousing is not that of literal sleepers who have been awakened by a voice. The doctrine that death is a sleep, that the soul remains in an unconscious state till the resurrection, and that the life is then anew given to the soul simultaneously with the re-creation of the body from the dust, is so inconsistent with the plain teaching of Scripture in many passages (see 1 Cor. 15:36-38, 50, 51), that it cannot be sustained by doubtful interpretations of pictorial passages like the present one. How little ground there is for the opinion that the Bible supports a doctrine of a literal and universal bodily resurrection, will be evident to the student who considers the force of the following passages, which are said by Olshausen, and quoted with apparent approval by Alford, both of whom seem to believe in a literal resurrection of the body, to be the only passages in Scripture which imply a resurrection of the bodies of the impenitent: Acts 24:15; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 25:34, etc.; Rev. 20:5, 12; Dan. 12:2. No one of these directly asserts the resurrection of the body, and some of them can hardly be said even remotely to imply it. The doctrine is directly inconsistent with the teaching of Paul in 1 Cor., ch. 15. See notes there.--=They that have done good unto the resurrection of life.= That is, unto a resurrection the necessary result of which is life, life in the Messiah’s kingdom.--(Meyer.) --=And they that have practised evil.= The righteous have done good--their fruit remains; the wicked have only practised evil--their works do not follow them. The wheat is garnered into the storehouses; the chaff is destroyed. See ch. 3:20, 21.--=Unto the resurrection of judgment.= Observe again that only they that have done evil come into judgment (verse 24, note). Observe too that it is they that have done good to whom is given the gift of eternal life, and they that have practised evil that enter into judgment. The test, and the only test of character which the New Testament recognizes, is that of fruit in the actual life (Matt.7:20; 12:33; 25:31-46; Ephes. 5:6; 1 John 3:7, 8). The works of righteousness are the fruits of the Spirit; his gracious influences are received into the soul by faith, but the evidence of the abiding of that Spirit consists in the manifestation of these fruits in a righteous life (John 15:1, 2, 6; Gal. 5:22-24; James 2:14-26). Living a Christ-like life is the only evidence of possessing a Christ-like spirit.

30 I[185] can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just: because I seek not mine own will, but the will[186] of the Father which hath sent me.

[185] verse 19.

[186] ch. 4:34; 6:38; Ps. 40:7, 8; Matt. 26:39.

=30.= In this verse Christ returns to the statement made in the beginning of the discourse, ver. 19 (see note there); he does all things as the representative of the Father and the expression of the Father’s will.--=As I hear I judge.= As Christ is the image of the Father, so his voice is the echo of the Father’s voice.--=My judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father.= To the Father there is no law superior to his own will; to the Son the will of the Father is the law. In this declaration our Lord gives us an example of the way in which we may secure just judgments in ourselves. It is self-seeking which obscures the judgment. Unselfish seeking of the Father’s will is the great clarifier of the moral judgments of the disciple.

31 If I bear witness[187] of myself, my witness is not true.

[187] ch. 8:14; Prov. 27:2; Rev. 3:14.

=31.= This verse makes a transition from the subject-matter of the discourse thus far to a new subject. Christ has been speaking of his own character and authority; he now passes to speak of the evidences which attest it. The verse is to be read not affirmatively, but interrogatively. Do you say, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true? I will then point you to other testimony. That this is the true reading of the verse is evident from ch. 8:14, where Christ declares that though he bears witness of himself, his witness is true. He here anticipates the objection there made by the Pharisees (ch. 8:13), and replies to it. In his reply, which extends to verse 39, he cites in attestation of his mission three witnesses: (1) the testimony of John the Baptist (vers. 32-35); (2) his own works, including, but only incidentally, his miracles (ver. 36); (3) the personal testimony of the Father, speaking chiefly through the O. T. Scripture (vers. 37-39).

32 There is another[188] that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

[188] ch. 8:18; Acts 10:43; 1 John 5:7-9.

33 Ye sent unto John, and[189] he bare witness unto the truth.

[189] ch. 1:7, 32.

=32, 33. There is another that beareth witness of me.= Most of the modern commentators consider this another to be the Father. So Alford, Meyer, Bengel, Tholuck, and others. They understand the connection to be this: The Father testifies to me; John’s testimony I do not receive, because it is human and fallible, but in passing I refer to it, for your salvation. Thus verses 33-35 are parenthetical. The other interpretation seems to me the more natural and preferable. Christ gives, in an ascending climax, a threefold testimony to himself: first the testimony of John, a prophet, rather the prophet and forerunner of the Messiah; then his own works; finally the testimony of the Father, in the heart and through the written word.--=And I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.= Such language confirming the testimony of John the Baptist is natural; such language in confirmation of the testimony of the Father seems to me strained and unnatural. What significance can be given to the statement, The Everlasting Father testifies of me, and I know that his testimony of me is true? It is apt if applied to John the Baptist, a human and fallible witness, whose language might be attributed by the Jews to extraordinary and mistaken admiration.--=Ye sent unto John.= The reference is probably to the delegation which came out from Jerusalem to inquire into John’s character and work (ch. 1:19).--=He bare witness unto the truth.= That is, To the truth concerning Jesus Christ. By this declaration Christ makes the christology of John the Baptist his own, and declares of himself that he is the Son of God and the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. See ch. 1:29, 34.

34 But I receive not testimony from man: but[190] these things I say, that ye might be saved.

[190] ch. 20:31; Rom. 3:3.

35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing[191] for a season to rejoice in his light.

[191] Matt. 21:26; Mark 6:20.

=34, 35. But I receive not testimony from man.= This is not equivalent to, I will not avail myself of human witness in this matter (Meyer); he does in fact avail himself of human witness, cites it, and declares the reason why he does so, that his auditors may by it be saved from fatal error; nor does it merely mean, as Calvin, that he cites this testimony out of regard to them rather than to himself, though this is true, and equally true of all his ministry, and of all the testimony which he cites in support of his divine claims. Here, as in so many other places in the N. T., especially in the reports of Christ’s words, the careful study of the original clears up obscurity which is felt in the translation, and sometimes which any mere translation fails to clear away. From (παρά), when joined to verbs of inquiring, asking, and learning, indicates that the matter to be learned is viewed as in the mental possession of the person cited (see Winer, § 47, p. 365), that is, as derived from him and dependent on his testimony. So in common language with us, “I know such a fact to be true, for I learned it from Mr. A.,” indicates Mr. A. as the authority for the statement. Christ’s declaration here then is, not that he will not use human testimony, but that his claims do not depend upon it. Compare Matt. 11:27, “No man knoweth the Son but the Father,” and Matt. 16:17, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it (the truth respecting Jesus) unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” The testimony of John the Baptist, like that of all the prophets, is not in truth testimony of or from man, but testimony from God, through man, the man speaking as he is moved by the Holy Ghost. And the moral for us is that all mere human argument for and witness to the character of Christ breaks down; it is only as the divine character has been divinely revealed to us, by the Spirit of God, that we can hope to persuade others of the truth, a lesson abundantly confirmed in the history of the church by its dealings with infidelity. Unbelief is to be vanquished by spiritual, not by mere intellectual power. Alford represents the idea well by a free translation, “I take not my testimony from man.”--=These things I say that ye might be saved.= Blind to the testimony of the O. T. (2 Cor. 3:14), unspiritual, and therefore deaf to the inner voice of God (1 Cor. 2:14), there is hope that they may heed the recent testimony of John, whom all men counted for a prophet (Matt. 21:26), and whose baptism even the Pharisees and the Sadducees had attended (Matt. 3:7). Therefore he cites it to them, that he may by any means save some. He seeks to outflank their prejudice.--=He was the lamp, kindled and shining.= Observe the difference between this translation and that of our English version. He was not a light, but the lamp; not burning, but kindled. A common title given to famous Rabbis was The candle of the law; Christ borrows it, applies it to John, and declares him to have been the lamp, lighting not the law, but the way to Christ. The lamp, because the one foretold in the prophets to light the way of the Lord and prepare for his coming. The lamp, not light. Two different Greek words (λύχνος and φῶς) are erroneously rendered by the same English word, light. Man is but a lamp; Christ is the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (ch. 1:9); and man (the lamp) can give light to others only as he is himself filled with Christ (the true and only light). This lamp is kindled (καιόμενος, passive), i. e., by the touch of God, as a lamp unable to give light until it is filled and lighted by the owner’s hand; and shining, as one of the lights of the world (Matt. 5:14), shining with divine light because kindled by a divine hand and partaking of the divine nature (lumen illuminatum, not lumen illuminans).--=And ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.= The two marks of a spurious religious enthusiasm. They were willing to rejoice, but not to repent; they were ready to “enjoy religion,” but not to “bring forth fruit meet for repentance;” they flocked in great crowds to John’s Baptism (Matt. 3:5), much as men now flock to camp and tabernacle meetings; but they were not ready to “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.” And their enthusiasm was but “for a season,” as all merely emotional enthusiasm is. It made no practical and lifelong change in their character or conduct.

36 But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works[192] which the Father hath given me to finish,[193] the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

[192] ch. 10:25; 15:24; Acts 2:22.

[193] ch. 17:4.

=36. But I have greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish.= From the testimony of John the Baptist, Jesus passes to the second authentication of his mission, the works which he is doing. These works are not merely nor primarily his miracles. Against this narrow and unspiritual interpretation the church should have been saved by even a careful study of the words. For (a) the word here rendered works (ἔργον) is never used by John as equivalent to a miracle, but always, when in connection with Christ, as significant of his whole course of beneficent and redeeming activity; (b) in this very discourse Christ uses it in connection with and in reference to his work of spiritual life-giving to the dead in trespasses and sins (vers. 20, 21); (c) the phrase “hath given me to finish” points forward to the time when he should be able to say in prayer to his Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (ch. 17:5; comp. 4:34), and in his last triumphant cry upon the cross, “It is finished” (ch. 19:30). The matter is important because the church needs to recognize that the evidences of Christianity on which Christ relied are not the miracles, which are purely historical acts, the historic veracity of which must be proved like that of any other past events, but the whole work of redeeming love, the visible and indubitable fruits of which are to be unceasingly seen in the victories of Christianity over the individual and over communities.--=The same works that I am doing.= Not have done, which might have been said of miracles already wrought, but am now engaged in doing, which alone could be said of the unceasing work of him who ever went about doing good. Observe that the works which he is doing are those which the Father hath given him to do (vers. 19, 20, notes), and that whatever the Father hath given him, that he does (ch. 18:11).--=Bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.= Because they are manifestations of the Father’s love. The message which the Son has come to bring is the message of the Father’s grace (ch. 1:14).

37 And the Father[194] himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye[195] have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

[194] Matt. 3:17; 17:5.

[195] Deut. 4:12; 1 Tim. 6:16.

38 And ye have not his word[196] abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

[196] 1 John 2:14.

=37, 38. And he which hath sent me, the Father himself, hath borne witness of me.= The past tense of the verb indicates a completed testimony, borne in past time, but accessible to present hearers. The meaning therefore cannot be the witness of the Spirit to Christ’s character and mission, a continuously fresh testimony, which is however borne only to those that are already the sons of God, through a measurable faith in Jesus as Saviour and Messiah. The reference is possibly in part to the testimony which the Father had borne at the baptism to Christ as his well-beloved Son (Matt. 3:17), a testimony repeated on other occasions (Matt. 17:5; John 12:28); but the primary reference is to the testimony borne to God in the O. T. Scriptures, which were to the Jewish nation witnesses to the Messiah, whose coming they heralded, and whose work they described (Luke 24:27-44; Acts 13:27).--=No voice of his have ye ever heard, no appearance of his have ye ever seen, and his word ye have not abiding in you.= This gives as nearly literally as is possible the meaning of the original. Two interpretations are possible. One is that indicated by our English version. According to this interpretation Christ declares the general philosophic truth, that the Father is a Spirit, and therefore invisible and inaudible, to be spiritually discerned; and since the Jews have not spiritual discernment, since they have not God’s word abiding in them, they are without any knowledge of God or understanding of his witness. The other interpretation is that indicated by the more literal translation given above. According to this translation it is the language of “reproach for want of susceptibility to this (divine) testimony” (Meyer). This was the view of Calvin, who here, as in the interpretation of so many other passages, anticipated the results of later criticism. “When he says that they had never heard the voice of God or seen his shape, these are metaphorical expressions, by which he intends to state generally that they are utterly estranged from the knowledge of God.” This last I believe to be the correct interpretation, both because it more nearly accords with the literal rendering of the original, and because, according to the other interpretation, Christ inserts in the midst of his discourse an abstract statement of philosophic truth, in a manner which, if not absolutely artificial, is at least quite unlike his usual method. His word abiding in you is the word of the O. T. This they had; but it was external to them. They did not believe it “with the heart unto righteousness” (Rom. 10:10). It was not an abiding force in the shaping of their conduct or the formation of their character. He only can truly comprehend what the Scriptures teach concerning God, who yields obedience to whatever they teach concerning duty; for it is only as the divine attributes are reproduced in us that we can approximate an understanding of them in God.--=For whom he hath sent, in him ye have not faith.= This may be regarded either as the reason why they have not seen God nor heard his voice, because they have not faith in his Son; or as the evidence that they have not seen God, etc., since if they had they would have faith in his Son. The latter is the preferable interpretation, He that is truly and spiritually familiar with the Father will discern the Father’s lineaments in the Son; he that does not recognize the divinity in the Son bears thereby witness that he does not truly know in what divinity consists.

39 Search[197] the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are[198] they which testify of me.

[197] Isa. 8:20; 34:16.

[198] Luke 24:27; 1 Pet. 1:10, 11.

40 And ye will not come[199] to me, that ye might have life.

[199] ch. 3:19.

=39, 40. Ye search the Scriptures because in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify concerning me; and still ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.= The verb search (ερευνᾶτε) may be rendered either as imperative or as indicative. Alford and Tholuck make it, as does the English version, imperative, thus interpreting it as a direction to search the Scriptures; Meyer, Bengel, Olshausen, and Godet make it indicative, thus interpreting it as a statement of a fact and a basis for the condemnation which follows. Which interpretation is correct is to be determined wholly by the context and the circumstances; either is grammatically correct. It appears to me clear, both from the context and the audience, that Christ does not give here a command or an exhortation, but simply states a fact. For (1) he is addressing men who did not need a direction to Scriptural study; the great, almost the exclusive, study of the Jewish Rabbis was either the Scriptures or the commentaries thereon. It is true that their search was not spiritual; they stopped with the letter which killeth, and disregarded the spirit which giveth life; but this was a reason, not for an exhortation to more searching, but to a different spirit in the searching. (2) The theme of Christ’s discourse here would not naturally lead to an exhortation to Bible study. He is pointing them to himself; and their failure to find him was not because they were not familiar with the Scriptures, but because a veil was over their hearts when they read it (2 Cor. 3:15). I understand then that Christ in this verse notes a contrast between the Scriptures and himself; the Jews search the Scriptures because in them they think to find eternal life. But eternal life is not in the Book; it is in the person to whom the Book bears witness. And they search in vain who do not find in it the Christ to whom the Book bears testimony. In contrast with their searching, note the spirit and method of the Bereans, who searched to see if these things were so (Acts 17:10, 11), that is, with a docile and inquiring, not a predetermined mind.--=Ye will not come unto me.= Though the Scriptures which they searched so diligently contained testimony to a suffering and saving Messiah, they would not come to him. They were as one who reads a guide-board, but goes not whither it points.--=That ye might have life.= The object of Christ’s coming was to give life; the object of coming to Christ is to receive life (ch. 10:10). The kind of life imparted by him and to be received by us is indicated in Ephes. 2:10; Gal. 5:22, 23.

41 I receive not honour from[200] men.

[200] verse 34; 1 Thess. 2:6.

42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

=41, 42. I receive not honor from men.= It is true that at his name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess him to be Lord, but to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10, 11). As the Christian lets his light shine that men may glorify Christ, so Christ’s light glorifies the Father. Moreover, this honor is not derived from men. What was said on the meaning of the original on ver. 34 (see note there) is equally applicable here. From men (παρά) indicates the original source. Christ’s glory comes from the Father (Phil. 2:9); human voices do but echo the divine voice.--=I know you.= As no man ever knows his fellow-men. For illustration of Christ’s divine insight into the hearts of men, see Matt. 9:4; John 2:24; Heb. 4:13.--=That ye have not the love of God in you.= They who were condemning Christ for a violation of the ceremonial law of the Sabbath were themselves guilty of violating the first and great commandment Of the law (Deut. 6:5).

43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

44 How can ye believe, which[201] receive honour one of another, and seek[202] not the honour that cometh from God only?

[201] ch. 12:43.

[202] Rom. 2:10.

=43, 44. In my Father’s name.= “The name of God, of Christ, is a paraphrase for God himself, Christ himself, in all their being, attributes, relations, manifestations.”--(Rob. Lex., art. ὄνομα.) See Matt. 28:19, note. Here, therefore, Christ’s declaration is primarily, I have come in the power of the Father, not in my own power, or with my own authority; and secondarily, I have come to manifest and glorify not myself, but Him.--=If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.= The reference is primarily to the false Christs, of whom many have been at different times received by Jews. See Matt. 24:5, note. But the declaration has a wider application to all times and nations. Wherever the minister is received, not as a guide to God, but as an independent object of hero-worship, he is received in his own name.--=How can ye have faith which receive honor derived from= (παρά) =one another?= Earthly ambition is inconsistent with spiritual growth. He that seeks the perishable cannot at the same time seek the imperishable crown.--=And seek not the honor which cometh from the only God.= Not, as in our English version, from God only. The structure of the sentence forbids that interpretation. The reference is to such passages as Exod. 8:10; 9:14; 20:3; Deut. 4:35, 39; 2 Sam. 7:22; Isa. 45:5, 6, etc. To those who seek from the one and only true God glory and honor and immortality, by patient continuance in well-doing, and to them alone, is the gift of eternal life promised (Rom. 2:6, 7).

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is[203] one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

[203] Rom. 2:12.

46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he[204] wrote of me.

[204] Gen. 3:15; 22:18; Deut. 18:15, 18; Acts 26:22.

47 But if ye[205] believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

[205] Luke 16:31.

=45-47. Do not think that I will be your accuser before the Father.= The imagery is borrowed from the course of judicial proceedings. In the last judgment Christ will be judge (ver. 37), not public prosecutor.--=There is one that accuseth you.= Observe the present tense, who is accusing you. The law is a perpetual accusation against the sinner (Rom. 2:15; 3:19, 20), from whose indictments there is no escape except in the pardon offered by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. For prophetic and specific accusations of the Jewish nation in the Mosaic writings, see Deut. 31:21, 26.--=Even Moses.= The law-giver is put for the law.--=In whom ye have put your hopes.= (εἰς ὃν) For the meaning of in whom (εἰς ὅν), see 2 Cor. 1:10. In (εἰς) signifies the end toward which any action tends; with verbs indicating a mental action, the object of that action. The hopes of the Jews looked toward Moses, i. e., toward an exact obedience of the letter of the law given by Moses, not toward a spiritual communion with the Father whose children they were called to be. For a portrayal, autobiographically, of this legal and self-righteous hope, see Phil. 3:4-6.--=Had ye believed Moses.= Not believed in or on him; the child of God believes the prophets, he believes in or on Christ only. If the Jews had really believed Moses, even as a teacher, they would have believed on Christ; for Moses testified of Christ.--=For he wrote of me.= An incidental testimony to the Mosaic authorship of the books usually attributed by the Jews to Moses, viz., the first five books of the O. T.; also an indication of the prophetic and typical character of the ceremonial law. Moses was a prophet because the entire O. T. ceremonial and service--temple sacrifices, ablutions, etc.--were prophecies, fulfilled in and by Christ. Thus Christ himself incidentally confirms that view of the O. T. ceremonial which underlies and is most fully expounded by the Epistle to the Hebrews.--=But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?= “The meaning is, Men give greater weight to what is written and published, the letter of a book, than to mere word of mouth; and ye in particular give greater honor to Moses than to Me: if then ye believe not what he has written, which comes down to you hallowed by the reverence of ages, how can you believe the words which are uttered by Me, to whom ye are hostile? This however is not all; Moses leads to Christ; is one of the witnesses by which the Father hath testified of Him; ‘if then ye have rejected the means, how shall ye reach the end?’ If your unbelief has stopped the path, how shall ye arrive at Him to whom it leads?”--(Alford.)

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